


The New Kid

by blaklegsanji



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Adorable Derek, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bottom Derek Hale/Top Stiles Stilinski, F/M, Family Secrets, Human Derek Hale, Hurt Derek, Hurt Stiles, M/M, Past Stiles Stilinski/Malia Tate, Protective Stiles, Shy Derek, Werewolf Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-08-17 07:37:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 40,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8135738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blaklegsanji/pseuds/blaklegsanji
Summary: Derek and his sisters move back to Beacon Hills to start a new life away from New York. However he wasn't expecting Stiles Stilinski and his group of odd friends and their furry secret. Not to mention some secrets from his own family's past to add to the complications.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Unfortunately I don't know own Teen Wolf or any of these amazing characters.

Derek followed Principal Thomas down the halls of Beacon Hills High, quietly as he showed him around the school, telling him what classes were where and where his locker was and the location of the lunchroom.

He grips his backpack tightly when two girls passed by greeting the principal and whispering to each other when they spotted Derek. He ignores them, but he knew word was going to get around that there was a new kid and he wasn't looking forward to being the talk of the school for a few days. He was never a social person to begin with so maybe if he kept to himself than the other kids won't bother to give him a second look.

"Derek this is your first class today." Principal Thomas informs him as they stop in front of one of the classroom doors on the second floor.

Derek gulps when the principal knocks and opens the door. He waits outside as the principal talks to the teacher, and then addresses the students until he was motioned by the teacher with the gentle smile, to walk in. Shyly, he steps through the threshold and all eyes are on him. He looks around and notices some of the students talking and whispering to each other like the girls from before.

He squirms a little and quickly looks down when Principal Thomas and the teacher each place a hand on his back.

"Okay everyone we have a new student today." Principal Thomas says. "This is Derek Hale and he will be attending to our school so be nice and treat him like you all want to be treated."

"Yes sir!" The students respond. Derek saw some students roll their eyes, like they've heard this been said a thousand times already.

He stands there awkwardly when the principal walks out, a pat to his shoulder. Then the teacher shakes his hand and introduces herself.

"Hello there Derek and welcome to Beacon Hills, I'm Ms. Flemming and I will be your math teacher from now on."

On the outside he smiles politely, but on the inside he cringes because he hates math. Like really hates math, not that he's not good at it. He just hates how one problem can have so much work to it. Like half the stuff they teach them isn't gonna be such helpful in life.

"Let's see where are we gonna sit you?" Ms. Flemming says thoughtfully, looking over the rows of students sitting in front of her, then makes a victorious sound. "Here we go, you can sit in front of Mr. Stilinski. Stiles please raise your hand."

There was a small hesitation but then a hand was slowly raised into the air. A guy with brown eyes and mole dotted skin, wearing a bright red hoodie. Derek moves forward when Ms. Flemming gives him a gentle push towards the desk where the student - Stiles - was sitting behind. It was last row towards the large windows in the third desk.

_What the hell kind of name is Stiles anyways?_

He tries not to let his nerves and clumsiness show but one look at the guy named Stiles and he almost trips over one of the students bags on the floor. The guy gives him an apologetic smile, dimples on display and all, but the look he's receiving from Stiles is not all welcoming. It's more like a glare directed towards him but then there's a scowl towards the teacher. The guy sitting next to Stiles, with the puppy dog eyes and the crooked jawline squeezes his arm like he's trying to calm Stiles down with just a touch. He thinks he saw Stiles' brown eyes get brighter but he blames that on the sun that was shining through the windows that make those brown eyes look golden.

Quickly he sits down, dropping his bag underneath his desk between his legs. He hears a small sound behind him, like a whimper then hears the subtle sound of deep breathing.

"Dude." He hears the other boy whisper behind him and for a second Derek thinks he was being spoken too.

"Shut up." Stiles whispers back harshly Derek thought it sounded more like a growl.

He decides to take out a pencil and spiral notebook, to distract himself. His hands start to lightly shake because he can feel eyes watching his every move and it's starting to make him nervous. He finds a notebook but he couldn't find a pencil or pen anywhere and he mentally berates himself for not packing one. Honestly how stupid could he be not bringing a writing utensil to school!

The puppy dog eye guy - Stiles' friend - must have noticed his distress when a hand taps his shoulder and is faced with a kind smile and a pencil outstretched to him. "Here you go."

Derek takes it hesitantly, he glances at Stiles for a second but the other teen was looking down at his desk. "Thank you." He says softly.

"No problem." Puppy-Dog-Eye-Guy waves it off. "I'm Scott by the way."

Derek nods gives Stiles one last glance then turns back around, because Ms. Flemming was passing back papers and getting the lesson started.

-

It was time for lunch and Derek pretty much followed everyone to the cafeteria room. After his first class he had tried to give Scott McCall back his pencil, but Scott insisted he keep it and then helped him find his next class which was English since he had it with him, there was no Stiles. Derek didn't know whether to be relieved or not.

He got to know Scott a little better and found out he was one of the captains of the schools lacrosse team, along with someone else named Jackson Whittemore. He learned Stiles was on the team, along with a guy named Danny - the one who's bag he tripped over that morning - and a bunch of his other friends.

Scott was actually a nice guy, one of the nicest guys he's ever met actually, and learned that Scott and Stiles had been best friends ever since they were little. Luckily they didn't talk about the awkwardness during first period. They didn't get to talk much during English, once again he was announced as the new kid and then the teacher, Ms. Riley went right to work.

After second period he had P.E and Derek was told to sit out since he didn't have anything to change out of. He was so grateful for that. Then dreaded the next day because he wasn't gonna be able to hide how clumsy he really was from everyone. Physical Education was not his forte, and he was not looking forward to showing people just how much he sucks at it.

His eyes widened when he entered the cafeteria for the first time, pretty much all the tables were taken. Derek walked to the lunch line and grabbed his tray of food, walking around trying to find an empty table anywhere. The inside was full of people not one table unoccupied, so he walked outside ignoring some stares from some familiar faces from his previous classes.

Outside was a little better and he could definitely breath easier. There was still a good number of people outside too, but he manages to find a table far away from everyone else. Of course it was no easy task when he bumped into people, tripped over nothing and almost spilling his lunch on the ground, and breathed a sigh of relief now that he could finally relax for a bit. He grabbed a chicken nugget dipped in in the gravy and popped it in his mouth. There was a vibrating buzz coming from his pocket, smiling when he saw a text from Laura.

_Laura: How's school so far?_

_Derek: Not as bad as I thought. I'm at lunch._

He sent the text and ate another chicken nugget. He was surprised he hadn't gotten a text from Cora today. He was a little worried about her, she looked like she was gonna be sick when they left this morning.

_Laura: Make any new friends?_

That had him hesitating to answer. He wasn't a big people person because he was so shy and awkward around others and usually made a fool of himself, so he would avoid putting himself out there. He was the kind of person who stayed home instead of going out and partying-not that he was ever invited to a party anyways. Scott McCall did pop into his mind though, he wouldn't say they were friends since all Scott did was lend him a pencil and helped him find his classes, but he was the first student that actually spoke words to him today, and he was nice to Derek too. Unlike Stilinski who looked like he wanted to make Derek dissappear with his unwelcome glare alone.

_Derek: Not really, I'm just trying to find my way around first._

There was no point in lying to her since she probably already knew the answer before she even asked. Honestly he didn't think Laura even cared who was his friend and who wasn't. Back in New York she only cared about starting her life, and her friends, and her boyfriend and finishing her last year of college.

_Laura: You'll make some. We're back here to start over remember?_

He supposes an accidental fire taking their only parent away can change a person's way of life overnight.

_Derek: Yeah._

_Laura: I have to go. Have a good day little bro :)_

_Derek: You too :)_

He locks his phone and sets it aside and finishes eating the last of his lunch. Looking around at all the unfamiliar faces with their friends talking, laughing, whispering secrets, kissing and he suddenly feels lonely and out of place.

Just like at his old school he didn't have a lot of friends. Sure a small limited amount of people talked to him, shared their secrets with him, but he never had a steady best friend to do stupid stuff with, or go out and have fun like teenagers should, or text him. Instead he always stayed home, read his books, play video games, draw and roam Tumblr. Derek was that person when the teacher said partner up with someone he was always alone.

Does the librarian count as a friend?

His head shifts left and right but looks straight ahead and he finds Scott McCall and his table-well tables of friends. Stiles is there too, sitting on Scott's right while a Japanese looking girl is sitting in his left gigging while Scott is kissing her neck, obviously that's his girlfriend. Next to Scott's girlfriend is the table connected with a pretty blonde smooching a large dark skin male, and across from them is Danny and a curly hair male looking like he was flirting with a dark haired girl with a pretty smile. Across from Stiles is a beautiful strawberry blonde headed girl holding hands with a handsome blonde next to her who looks bored of what they're talking about.

Stiles starts laughing at something the girl says and Derek just stares. Stiles looks so different then he did when he was glaring Derek down earlier. Head thrown back, mouth open wide, eyes bright, his whole body moving with him. Obviously Derek didn't give him a good first impression.

Suddenly Stiles looks his way and Derek drops his head with a small squeak. He distracted himself by pushing around his mash potatoes with his spork. Not being one to judge, Derek can't help but notice how pretty, popular and jockey all of them look and to Derek it sucks because he just barely got here and he's already gotten himself in a jocks bad books. He's never had problems with jocks before. He doesn't want to be a target for a bully. He didn't think Stiles was a bully if he was friends with someone as nice as Scott. But what did he know?

He was just the new kid.

He tilts his head towards the sky and basks in the small breeze passing, ruffling his hair, blowing leaves across the ground. Derek continues eating in a daze, making sure not to let his eyes wander. At one point he roams on Tumblr again.

He jumps when the bell rings. The other students started grabbing their belongings and heading inside. Derek follows them slowly. He decides when he walks inside, to just lay low and avoid any contact everybody, especially Stilinski and his friends.

Derek frowns, now he needs to find some other way to find his classes.

Great.

-

When school ends he takes the bus home, of course he has to tell the bus driver he's new and where he lives. Thankfully the bus drivers route goes by the warehouse district and the loft they live in is only a few steps away when he's dropped off by a nearby stop sign.

He texted Laura a heads up he took the bus. He already has his drivers license and Laura talked about getting him a new car soon. A shiny black Camaro was in mind. That would be nice, to drive to school in style for once.

"Derek!" Laura yells opening the giant metal door.

Derek races downstairs, just barely catching himself when he almost falls down the spiral staircase. He waves to his sisters, "Hey."

"I brought dinner," Laura holds up a bag of Chinese takeout, smiling sheepishly, "Hope this is okay with you."

"Totally fine." Derek says licking his lips. He turns to Cora, who was closing the door, and asks. "How was school?"

Cora doesn't answers just shrugs and throws her backpack on the couch before running upstairs until they hear the slamming of the door to her room. Derek turns to Laura frowning, who just rolls her eyes and shrugs it off, walking to the kitchen and putting the food on the table.

Derek follows her. "Why is she so mad?" He asks.

Laura grimaces, "You know how she is, typical Cora, typical attitude. Just give her some space or else she'll have a shit fit."

That's all he needed to know. Out of the three of them Cora was always the one who could never control her temper, usually when she was like this it was better to avoid all contact with her until she was in a better frame of mind. When Cora was mad she would be _mad_ , beyond pissed off, and being in her line of fire was not a good thing, Derek would know. Even though she was just a middle school teenager there were many times she had Derek pinned to the ground, making him beg for mercy. Usually when Cora was mad she would avoid everyone unless someone pissed her off, but if the chance to avoid her was optional then it was best to take it.

He supposes he understands Cora's behavior after the year they've had, she was still grieving. Derek was too, but people grieve in their own way, Cora's was just being anti-social and brooding. Plus she was going through puberty so that made it much worse.

"So," Laura chirps putting the plates on the table. "Have you thought about what kind of car you wanted?"

Derek grins, perhaps this evening wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

-

He had to take the bus again. According to Laura it was gonna be a while until she could get him a car. 

The end of the week came by in a blink of an eye. School wasn't so bad and he learned to find all his classes on his own without anyone's help. His first period was still awkward with Stiles still looking at him like Derek was the worst thing in the world, but Derek was determined to avoid him and his friends.

He still sat at lunch alone, but he kept himself occupied; finishing up homework early, reading a book, or drawing. He tried his best to not be caught staring at the table a few feet in front of him, which he would find himself doing accidentally.

Derek also made a new friend known as Mrs. Kay; the librarian. He stumbled in there and they started up a great conversation. She didn't ask personal questions just small talk, sometimes about books, other times about the students that come and go. Apparently she was in the know with all the gossip around school, so Derek knew secrets about people he didn't really know. Made him feel a little guilty.

He's been good at making himself scarce but he's had a little trouble with his clumsiness. One time he ended up dropping his binder in math class and all his papers would have spilled out if it hadn't been for Stiles who caught it with lightning fast reflexes. Derek just gaped at him for a second, then timidly accepted it back with a small 'thank you'. The air of awkwardness was huge around them, but Stiles for some reason looked like a deer caught in a headlight when he realized what he'd done. He noticed the disproving look Scott gave him but Derek didn't take time to process what that meant.

There was no more interactions after that, Derek made sure of it. He didn't know if it was just paranoia or him gaining a sixth sense of when Stiles would show up, but every time he caught a glimpse Derek would turn and walk the other way.

His plan of going unnoticed had been working perfectly-until that Friday when two pretty girls walk up to him on his way to his lunch table.

"You must be Derek Hale." The red head smiled, mysteriously and-mischievously? He didn't like it. The other girl smiles with two prominent dimples on display. She seemed much more genuine, in a way.

"Hello." He says quietly.

Lydia Martin and Allison Argent; the two probably most beautiful girls in school. He knows of them since Lydia is in his English class and Allison is in his History class. He doesn't know them personally, but he knows that Lydia Martin was not only beautiful but also a genius, she had a GPA that surpassed some college students. Allison was known to be very nice and sweet, he's heard (told by Mrs. Kay) that she and Scott used to date, and that they used to be that cute couple who were rumored to be together forever. That rumor dropped apparently when they broke up and Scott started dating Kira Yukimura, who was the daughter of his History teacher.

He's also heard (again Mrs. Kay) that Stiles had a big crush on Lydia for a long time until he started dating some girl named Malia last year. They broke up when Malia moved to another state with her family. For some reason Derek felt a little weird about that.

"Uh, can I help you?" He fidgets.

"He's a shy one." Lydia smirks at Allison. "Cute too."

Derek blushes and Allison giggles agreeing, "Definitely cute."

"You should come sit with us." Lydia motions her head towards her table.

The table where Stiles and all his friends sit. Derek takes a glance and notices Stiles and the others looking their way. "I don't think-"

"Are you denying me?" Lydia glares at him and Derek panics.

"Yes-I mean no-I mean I was denying your offer, kindly. I don't want to offend you or anything, but I'm pretty sure-" He starts babbling nervously.

Lydia puts a hand on his arm. "As endearing as it is to see you babble, we really don't have alot of time so you're going to come sit with us."

He doesn't have a say in anything when Lydia drags him to her lunch table. Allison following them with a smile that hasn't left her face since both girls approach him.

With each step his heart rate sped up because everyone at that table was watching them with amused looks, except for Stiles. Derek can't tell who he was glaring at this time, him or Lydia. He catches Scott nudge Stiles with his elbow and whisper something to him but Stiles ends up smacking him behind the head.

"Hey Derek!" Scott grins enthusiastically wrapping an arm around his girlfriend while the other rubs the back of his head, watching Lydia sit him down between her and Allison. He pretends he doesn't notice Allison's tightening expression when she glances at the couple in front of her.

Kira waves at him with a kind smile, "I'm Kira, nice to finally meet you."

 _Finally?_ He thinks frowning.

He doesn't get time to think about it when the blonde haired girl leans over the table straight into his face, bright red lips smirking with intent he didn't want to think about. If he remembers correctly her name was Erica Reyes and she was in his art class along with her boyfriend Vernon Boyd, and their best friend Isaac Lahey.

"Erica." He acknowledges quietly.

Erica tilts her head. "Glad to hear you know my name cutie." She purrs, batting her lashes.

Derek blushes, ducks his head and Erica coos. "He's so adorable, I just want to take him home and snuggle him." She turns to Boyd with fluttering lashes. "Can I keep him?"

He thinks his whole face looks like a tomato right now. Boyd laughs and tugs Erica down next to him ignoring her pout. Everyone chuckles besides Stiles and Lydia's boyfriend Jackson and Isaac who just smirks.

It gets kind of quiet for a second and everyone is staring at him, then back at each other then back at him again. He kind of feels like he was being judged.

 "So I heard you've moved here from New York. Is that true?" Lydia asks.

Derek nods, "Yes."

"How do you like Beacon Hills so far?" Allison cuts in. "Must be difficult to adjust from being in a big city to a small town."

"Actually I was born here."

Everyone's eyebrows shot up their heads, even Stiles looked pretty surprised by this revelation. He doesn't have a lot of memories of Beacon Hills, but there are flashes here and there of him running around in the woods behind a big house. Laura probably remembers their short time here better than he could, Cora not so much.

"Really?" Scott leans forward, brown eyes wide and curious. He really does look like a puppy. Stiles just gives Scott an annoyed look and hit his side with his elbow, earning him a pout too.

"We moved when I was around five, I think." He frowns, trying to remember.

"If you hadn't moved you would've grown up with us." Erica says lightly.

"So why did you move?" To his surprised Stiles was the one who asked that question. It baffled him when it really shouldn't, but Stiles has never said one word to him since he came to Beacon Hills.

"I'm not really sure," Derek shrugs. "My mom never said anything just packed our stuff and we were gone the next day. We did try to ask but she wouldn't talk about it, it was kind of taboo."

"Well you're here now, did she decide to come back all of a sudden?" Lydia asks.

Derek flinched. "No it's just me and my sisters. My mom's not in the picture anymore." He hesitates and adds. "Neither of my parents are."

"Oh." Lydia says slowly, and it gets eerily quiet again. An awkward silence he wish he could take back.

Allison touches his arm, "Is it okay if we ask what happened?"

Derek tenses, looks down at his food. "House fire," he mumbles. "My mom got caught in it, my sister's and I weren't home. It was an accident.

Nobody days anything but he does feel Allison and Lydia squeeze his arm gently.

"What about your dad?" Scott asks.

"Apparently my parents had a falling out," He shrugs. "I don't know that's what my mom told us. We weren't aloud to talk about it."

Lydia must have noticed his uneasiness of the conversation. To his relief she changes the subject.

"Did you do sports?" She asks.

At this Derek makes a face and Lydia chuckles.

"I'm guessing that's a no?"

"Unless you haven't notice I'm very clumsy," He mumbles. "I did try baseball, but they didn't want me on the team when I accidentally hit the coach with the bat, and then ended up breaking his car windshield with a ball..twice."

Erica, Isaac and Jackson all laugh and Derek slumps forward with a pout. Lydia elbows Jackson and he automatically shuts up. Allison throws her empty carton of milk at Isaac's head. Scott, Kira, Danny and Boyd just shake their heads at their friends and Stiles had a subtle smirk. Derek didn't know whether it was to his friends or Derek's story.

"You know there's a lacrosse game tonight," Lydia said matter of factly, looking at her nails. "Maybe you should come by and watch the game. There's gonna be a party at my house afterwards."

Derek's face scrunched up, "I have the feeling saying no to you isn't an option."

"Good boy, you've learned." Lydia ruffles his hair ignoring his squawk. "You just give me your address and I'll pick you up."

"Alright," He smooths his hair back down. "I have to ask my sister first but I'm pretty sure she'll say yes."

"Good." Lydia nods and everyone returns to their lunch.

Derek gets over the shock that he actually has plans with other people who are not his sisters. He let's himself smile.

He accidentally makes eye contact with Stiles who isn't looking like he wants to beat Derek down with in an inch of his life. Perhaps things are finally changing for him after all.

-

Just like he suspected Laura had no problem giving him permission to go to the game and the party afterwards.

"You're a teenager in high school I'm not gonna keep you from having fun." She told him, then added, "Just don't get into trouble."

By the time six forty-five rolled around Lydia texted him she was outside. She also had Allison and Erica with her. When he asked where Kira was at, he wasn't expecting the answer he got.

"Kira plays on the team." Allison says nonchalantly, never looking up from her phone.

Derek was surprised, "They let girls play on the team?"

"Not really." Lydia looked at him through her rear view mirror. "There were alot of- complications last year and a lot of kids moved away. Coach Finstock was desperate for players so he had no problem letting Kira on the team. Besides she's good."

Derek frowns, "What do you mean by complications?"

Suddenly the girls all tensed up and Derek didn't like how their expressions changed to this somber look. Their eyes darkened, looking like they were reminiscing something horrible.

"There was a murderer roaming around town last year." Erica says grimly, then adds quietly. "Alot of people were killed."

"Oh." Derek's eyes widened.

"We're almost there." Lydia informs them. Probably to change the subject again.

Derek doesn't ask about it anymore. He has a feeling there was more to the story than they let on but he wasn't going to press for answers, and he honestly didn't want to know any details. The less he knew the better.

They made it to the field minutes before the game was about to start, seated towards the top of the stands so Lydia could have a good look at the plays. Derek adjusted his black denim hoodie, it was a good thing he brought it with him, it was getting kind of chilly.

Soon everyone started cheering and clapping when both teams came running out. The ones wearing green he believed he heard Lydia say were from Devenford Prep, a private school. He jumps when Erica whistled loudly, really loudly, he had to cover his ear. Some of the players were looking back towards them but because of their helmets Derek couldn't tell who was who.

"Alright Derek pay attention," Erica turns his head. "You got to know which number is who so you can help cheer on our guys." She points her finger and says proudly, "Boyd is number two, and Danny is number six he plays goalie."

Derek sees Boyd amongst the guys, and spots Danny between two players Erica doesn't care to mention, all listening to Finstock giving them the game play. Derek was kind of excited honestly, he's never seen a lacrosse game before.

The players clap and spread out and run on the field, with the opponent team.

"See over there," Lydia points to one of them. "Number thirty-seven is Jackson."

Finstock is yelling something at the guys before the game officially starts, and some of them seem to be ignoring his rants. Whether on the field or in the classroom, he supposes Finstock is always gonna say stupid shit. How Finstock got a job as a teacher and a coach is beyond him.

The whistle blows and the game starts.

"Isaac is number fourteen, and Scott is number eleven." Allison points out. "Oh and there's Kira she's number fifteen."

The ball was being passed to Jackson and he was running full speed towards the opponents goal where he scored the first point for Beacon Hills. Lydia made a sound of approval and the crowd cheers.

"There's Stiles," Lydia motions her head to one of the players jogging away from the sidelines. "He's number twenty-four."

Right when she said his number Derek frowned when Stiles abruptly stopped in his steps and turned his head to the side like he was going to look back. For some stupid reason Derek actually thought Stiles heard them talking about him, but scoffed at the thought because the crowd was too loud and they were too far away.

Derek can't help but follow Stiles with his eyes as he runs to his team, he doesn't know what it is about the guy that draws Derek in. They don't even talk and most of the time Stiles looks like he can't stand the mere presence of Derek near him. But for some reason Derek's eyes just naturally find him, and honestly who wouldn't want to look at someone like Stiles? With the hair, and the eyes and the nose and the muscles. He was-well he was good looking. He can admit to himself he did have a crush. Unfortunately his newfound crush has to be the one person in the whole school who despises him.

The ball gets tossed around and Scott manages to catch it, then throws it to Stiles who's already running to make the goal. Derek has to squint his eyes to watch because Stiles is running so fast he almost looks like a blur, the other team has no chance to catch up.

Then almost like he realizes how fast he's running, Stiles actually slows down and that gives the other team an oppritunity to catch up with him. Until they get too close and then Stiles just goes for the goal and scores another point for Beacon Hills. Derek looks around at the other people in the stands and wonder if they noticed the change in Stiles' pace.

_Why the hell did he slow down? He knew he already had the point so there was no reason to let the other team catch up. He was already gone._

Derek keeps close eyes on him. Stiles looks tense and awkward, and is looking around like he's trying to see if anyone caught him doing something he wasn't suppose to. It was weird and something he wanted to point out to the girls, but Lydia was listening to Allison whisper something in her ear and they both were frowning even though Stiles just scored a point. Maybe they noticed what he noticed? Or maybe they knew the reason why Stiles did what he did.

The game went on and nothing else weird happened. The score was changed throughout the game, Beacon Hills would have the higher score, but the other team would even it out and then they would get the higher score. He didn't cheer but he politely clapped when Beacon Hills would score. And if he spent most of the game taking quick glances at Stiles, well nobody had to know.

The shorts were distracting, sue him!

He didn't want to make a big deal out of it in case it was nothing, but there were several times he thought he saw Stiles look his way, or somewhere in his general direction. Especially right now as Finstock called him off the field. Derek's eyes followed him as he ran to the sidelines, removing his helmet, sweat soaked hair plastered against his forehead, beads of sweat rolling down the sides of his face.

Then Stiles looks up and their eyes meet. Everything around Derek freezes for a minute, the crowds cheers muffled into a background noise, and it feels like it's just them two. Neither look away and then Stiles slowly locks his lips, and Derek thinks his eyes slowly follow the movement and-

"So what do you think Derek?" Lydia's voice brings him back to reality and he nearly jumps from his spot. She's looking at him and Derek can see a subtle smirk on her red lips, eyebrows raised up like she knows exactly what he was just doing.

"Uh, it's cool, lacrosse is interesting." Derek winces at his choice of words, and he pretends he doesn't hear Erica snort beside him and doesn't see Allison hiding a smile behind her hand.

Lydia thankfully accepts his answer and he was relieved that no more questions were asked. The crowd screams with encouragement as Scott runs with the ball but Derek goes back to staring at Stiles who now has his back turned to them, jumping up and down on his toes yelling along with the crowd encouragements at Scott until he finally scored the winning goal.

The stands erupted with cheers and yells and screams. The lacrosse players ran wildly on the field, to their teammates and hugged it out, hand clapping, fist bumping, chest bumping and hugging Scott. Derek smiled through it as he stood up with the girls and followed them down to the field. He hanged back by the bleachers as they hugged and kisses their significant others. He was surprised to see Allison hugging Isaac, lifting her up and spinning her around like a typical teenage couple would do.

His eyes scanned the crowd but didn't find the familiar twenty-four jersey. His shoulders slumped, looking down at his grey vans. What was he expecting, for Stiles to come and sweep him off his feet with a kiss? Yeah not happening.

Oh well, he might as well get himself hyped up for his first high school party.

-

Derek wanted to hit himself for letting himself get invited, he wasn't as hyped for this party as he thought he was. He was doing good at first, had a good conversation with Boyd before Erica came and took him upstairs where he had a feeling he knew what they were gonna do. Then he was all alone walking around Lydia's massive house, feeling like an outcast.

He was finally able to breathe when he walked out the front door and plopped down on the front steps. There were some people around the front yard but they were either too busy getting drunk or too busy making out. He declined any drinks from Lydia and Erica earlier. It's not like he's never gotten drunk, because he has, thanks to Laura who took it upon herself one night and found out he was a happy drunk and made fun of him because he kept sprouting things he never would sober. Thanks to that she has blackmail material on him for the rest of his life.

Derek looks around, the many cars parked, the people, the lights, the loud music. So this is what a high school party feels like. He supposes he can cross this off the list.

"What are you doing out here by yourself?" A female voice says from behind him and he forces himself not to jump. It was Allison and she was smiling down at him with that sweet smile, dimples and all. "Thought you'd be inside having fun."

Derek shrugs. "It got a little overwhelming." He mumbles, kind of embarrassed.

Allison nodded. "I get it. I was the same when I attended my first high school party. Too many people in one house can feel claustrophobic, but you'll get used to it, kind of."

Derek chuckles, then frowns at her. "What are you doing out here? I thought you'd be inside with Isaac."

Allison snorts gesturing her head to the right. Derek follows and squint his eyes through the dark just to see Isaac standing near a tree with another girl, whispering, hands all over each other. Derek raises his eyebrows and Allison has this look of annoyance and defeat and acceptance.

"I'm sorry." He says gently, patting her shoulder.

"It's fine," She shrugs. He can tell she's trying to act nonchalant, but the way her jaw clenches shows just how affected she is by it. "I should have expected it. I don't think I'll be dating anyone for a while."

Derek tilts his head, "You still care about Scott." He regretted it when she snaps her head up. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that." He panics flailing his arms.

"It's okay Derek." She catches his hand making him stop. "You're right."

"Oh." He says softly. He feels bad for bringing up something that wasn't even his business in the first place without asking like she did when she asked about his family. "Can I ask what happened between the two of you? I don't mean to bring up bad memories or whatever, but I heard you guys used to be the it couple."

Allison laughs at that, she's probably used to hearing it alot. "Well we were like every other couple. I was a new student here too a few years ago like you. When we first saw each other, I'm not gonna lie it was love at first sight as cliché as that sounds. We were smitten, naive, and as much as I hate to say it we were like, Romeo and Juliet. We were happy, went on dates, made out and well-you know." She gestures her hands like they could explain her meaning, but he understood what she was trying to saying. They were each others first. "Unfortunately our relationship had alot of complications."

"There seems to be alot of that in this town." Derek frowns at the use of that word again.

"You have no idea." Allison whispers, staring at the ground. Derek hears this but he doesn't pry for an explanation. He probably wasn't meant to hear that anyways.

"You guys sounded like you were the ideal couple." Derek says. "What changed?"

"Secrets." She shrugs, and huffs kind of bitterly. "Hurting people we cared about. I guess that was more of my fault, I was so engrossed with my relationship with Scott I didn't realize I was hurting someone else."

"Who?" Derek asks curiously. Then realizes how nosey he was being and backed off. He was about to apologize again when Allison blurts out, "Stiles."

Derek's eyes widened. He was expecting her to say Kira for some reason, or another girls name who may have had a crush on Scott and wasn't given a chance. Stiles was the last person from his mind that would be hurt from his best friends relationship. "Stiles?"

"Yeah." She nods slowly. "I didn't realize I was hurting Stiles by taking Scott away from him, they're best friends they're always together. Scott's a package deal, if you have him then chances are Stiles is right there next to him. I never realized how close they really are, they're like brothers. I never understood why he always avoided me until after Scott and I broke up."

Derek feels sad for them, especially Stiles. Derek knows what it's like to be ignored by people, nobody ever wanted to talk to him willingly unless they had too. Being ignored by a best friend must feel more emotional. He's never known what it was like to be attached with someone at the hip and then be ignored and ditched when they have a boyfriend or girlfriend. He supposes not even best friends can stay loyal to each other forever. People change, that's how high school works. That's how life works.

"Besides once certain secrets were brought out, our relationship had taken a major downturn. We tried to make it work, but everything just came crashing down. We broke up and we had to move on even though I still love him. When I saw him with Kira, I knew it was over. She's good for him."

"What about what's good for you?" Derek can't help but ask. He wonders what complications and secrets could cause such damage to these people. Allison looks so broken right now, more broken any teenager their age should ever feel.

She just shrugs, "Sometimes when you love something you have to set it free. I'll be fine." She reassures him, but Derek thinks she's trying to reassure herself more.

Instead of calling her out on her obvious lie, Derek gently pats her hand. It's not much but he's hoping this small gesture can lift up her spirits and make her smile again. He wants Allison to understand that she can rely on him, that he's willing to lend an ear. She dimples at him and Derek takes that as a win.

"So what do you think of your first party?" Allison asks curiously after a while of silence. A classic way of changing the subject. "Was it everything you were expecting?" She waggle her eyebrows.

Derek giggles. "Everything met the expectation list." He twiddle his thumbs. "Lydia really knows how to throw them, doesn't she?"

"Definitely." Allison snorts. "You look kind of tired though, it's okay if you want to go-" the door opens and Stiles walks out, a beer in one hand and his phone in the other. Derek looks away, so he doesn't have to see the way that plain black shirt fills out over Stiles' broad shoulders, or how tight those jeans look. "What's up?" Alison says.

"Texting my dad." He wiggles his phone at her. "He's making sure I'm not doing anything that will make him come down and arrest me."

Derek raises his head slowly, and Allison seems to notice and smiles and explains, "Stiles dad is the sheriff."

"Oh." Derek whispers but continues to avoid looking at Stiles. That doesn't mean he doesn't feel that gaze on him.

"Derek's tired I'm sure he wants to go home." Allison tells the other boy. "Let's go drop him off."

Hearing what she was implying Derek immediately protested. "No it's okay! My sister is probably still up I can call her to come get me!" He flails his arms again.

"Let's go." Stiles ignores him, already pulled out his keys and walked down the stairs to the drive way where his jeep was parked. Allison grabs one of his hands and hauls him up, pulling him along.

"Isn't Lydia gonna get mad I left?" He says looking back at the house, making sure there was no red head about to walk out and force them back in to have fun at her party. He's sure that's something Lydia would do.

"Don't worry about it. Lydia's too preoccupied with Jackson at this point to care." Allison grins at him over her shoulder. Derek certainly doesn't have to ask what that means.

Allison pushes him in the back and she sits in the front while Stiles drives. Derek was surprised Stiles was still sober enough to be behind the wheel. In fact he didn't look drunk at all, which was really odd because he was pretty sure he caught him with at least two or three beers before he walked off where Derek didn't see him the rest of the night.

"Where to?" Stiles tilts his head back to him, and Derek looks down.

"Go to the warehouse district." Derek mumbles softly.

The ride was quiet for a bit until Allison and Stiles started talking about some guy name Greenberg who got so drunk he ended up throwing up all over Danny's ex-boyfriend. "It was hilarious Ally you should have seen Danny's face, he couldn't stop laughing."

Derek just sits quietly in the back while they talk. Stiles sounds lighter and relaxed when he's rambling about the party, he's so comfortable talking to Allison and Derek feels really jealous because he wants that. He wants to be able to talk to Stiles without feeling this tension that seems to develop when they're around each other.

At one point Allison looks back at him and asks, "You okay back there? You're kind of quiet."

Derek nods. "I'm fine," He murmurs softly.

That's not entirely the truth. He actually feels awkward, the odd one out again and Allison seems to realize this when she smiles almost apologetically for it. She has nothing to be sorry for, the only person Derek blames for making himself awkward is him. If he was more outgoing like Laura then he wouldn't have this problem. Stiles doesn't say anything, and Derek doesn't take the time to notice his hand tightening on the steering wheel.

Allison starts talking about the game, and Derek knows she's trying to include him in the conversation because she keeps looking back at him and then asks. "You like the game right? That's what you said."

"Y-Yeah." Derek stutters.

They turn down the familiar road leading to Derek's home. Once he sees the loft building he points it out to Stiles to drive in that direction. Allison stares at the building and asks, "Its just three of you that live in that big building?"

Derek nods again. "Laura bought the whole building. We probably could have gotten an apartment but the loft was bigger, and I think Laura just wanted to give us our space."

"What about the old house you lived in?" She says.

Derek shrugs. "We never went back to check. It would be in the preserve if it's still standing all this time."

The Jeep comes to a stop which has Derek digging his nails into the seat for something to hold on to. Derek frowns when Allison and Stiles look sharply at each other. They both turn to him, and he raises his eyebrows at them. "W-What is it?" He says nervously

"Don't go in the preserve." Stiles says serious and Allison nods her head. Derek blinks at both of them, and Stiles sighs. "Just don't go in there okay?" Stiles says more gently.

"Uh, okay." Derek says slowly, blinking in confusion. 

"Great," Allison huffs and opens the door for him. "We'll see you at school Monday okay."

Derek hops out and smiles at both of them. "Thank you." 

Allison smiles and waves and to his surprise, Stiles does too before he's speeding away. Derek watches them until they turn a corner and out of his sight.

When he turns to walk in the building, Derek takes a second look to his right, quickly and frowns. His eyes dart around the area. He was certain he saw something near the street lamp post, but all he sees is the blue-green light shining brightly in the darkness.

Derek gives it one more contemplative look before he shakes his head and speed walks inside, texting Laura to have the door unlock. He ignores the funny feeling in his stomach. If he had turned back around, then he would have noticed the sillouhete of a person standing there watching him with glowing red eyes.

He takes the elevator up, Laura is already waiting for him with the door wide open. He rolls his eyes as he steps out of the lift. "You didn't need to wait up for me."

"I know," she shrugs. "Just wanted to make sure you came up okay." She walks inside, Derek follows her.

"You don't need to do that," Derek slides the door shut and locks it. "I'm not a little kid anymore."

Laura snorts. "Your a seventeen year old teenager who went to a high school party. I was being prepared in case you came home drunk, it's called being a responsible adult Derek." She says and walks into the kitchen. Laura opens the fridge and pokes her head in. "You hungry? There's still some pizza left."

"Give me a slice," he sits in the nearest chair. "And I didn't even drink over there." Laura sets him a paper towel with a slice of pizza and he takes a bite out of it while Laura gets a bottle of water and sets it down next to him.

Laura sits across from him, a pizza and water of her own. "I kind of figured that, but I was still being cautious." She smiles. "I'm just glad you made some friends."

Derek pauses mid bite, and slowly smiles. "Yeah, me too."

They scarf down their pizzas and chug their waters, and Laura announces she's going to bed and kisses his forehead. Derek turns off the kitchen light and heads upstairs debating whether or not to take a shower then decides against it. He already took one before Lydia and the girls picked him up and he was really tired. He threw off his shoes in his closet and throws his clothes in the hamper hanging on his door. Grabbing a spare shirt and his pajamas, he tugs them on and climbs in his bed, relaxing into the soft mattress.

Derek doesn't fall to sleep right away, just lays there, on his side, in the dark. Suddenly his iPhone lights up on his nightstand, it's a text message from an unknown number. But when he reads the message he smiles because he knows it's from Allison. She must have gotten it from Lydia.

_Allison: Thanks for being a good friend and listening to my sob story :)) oh its Allison by the way!_

Then she sends another one, and this one has Derek's heart thumping and face heating up, so he rereads it again just to make sure he wasn't misreading things.

_Allison: He was scared to tell you this, but Stiles says goodnight and have the sweetest dreams ;)_

Derek's thumbs hover over the keyboard as he rereads the message over and over again until he gets the courage to reply back. He bites his lips and reads his reply one more time before he sends it off.

_Derek: It's no problem you can talk to me whenever, and ditto to that last message_

He closes his phone and hastily puts it on the nightstand. God he feels like an idiot, being giddy over one little message that wasn't even sent by Stiles. He wonders if Allison is playing him but she doesn't seem like the type of person to make something up, especially something like that. But if she was telling the truth then that means Stiles may actually, kind of, probably like him. At least that's what Derek hopes. He doesn't know how to handle the fact that Stiles may have actually been thinking about him when he dropped Derek off at home. Maybe he and Allison were talking about him.

Derek groans and rolls over on his back, his phone lights up again indicating he has another reply but this time Derek doesn't look at it. Instead he closes his eyes and reminisces today at school. Before lunch, he had been a loner who had no friends, to being confronted by two of the prettiest girls in school and suddenly being invited to a lacrosse game and a high school party and making some pretty cool friends all in the same day.

He smiles softly at nothing but the darkness of his room. His body and eyes were becoming heavy, the events of the day finally coming over him. The light from his phone dims to black and Derek closes his eyes, giving in to sleep. He definitely had the sweetest dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

Monday comes back around and things are a little bit different when he walks inside the school, like Scott suddenly coming up behind him and throwing an arm around his shoulder leading him to class with Stiles following right behind them. He managed a quick glance to Stiles and he wasn't glaring at Derek. His expression was more neutral and soft. He's not sure if Allison told him about his message. When. Derek woke up Saturday morning Allison's reply was only a wink face emoji.

At the moment Scott was talking his ear off when they entered the classroom, Derek was surprised he was so energetic this morning. Some of the people he recognized at the party looked like they could pass out, even though they had a two day weekend for rest. But somehow Scott was rambling and buzzing with energy like a small puppy.

"Stiles told me you left early," Scott says as he drops his bag on the floor and plops down in the chair. "Everything was okay right?"

"Yeah," Derek nods, taking out his notebook and homework. "I just got really tired." But Scott isn't paying attention to him anymore because his focus is now on Derek's desk eyeing his homework, eyes slowly getting wider and wider until he fully looks like he's about to freak out.

"We had homework?" Scott looks between him and Stiles, and Derek nodding only seems to freak him out even more. "Oh, crap."

Stiles groans and shakes his head with disappointment. "Oh my gosh, seriously Scott, I literally reminded you the other day."

"I forgot!" Scott whined, practically ripping open his bag and taking out the papers that had not been touched. "Kira was over this weekend and I got distracted! I totally fogot!"

"And yet Kira is able to finish her homework on time," Stiles narrows his eyes unimpressed. "Honestly Scott what are you going to do when we get into college? I'm not always gonna be there to remind you to do your homework everyday." Even with his stern speech Stiles still handed Scott his homework so he could copy and Scott give him and grateful and apologetic smile. "Your lucky Ms. Flemming doesn't ask for our homework until class is over."

Stiles continued to scold Scott and Derek watches the scene with a secret smile. It was almost like watching a parent scold their child, or a big brother being hard on his little brother just to teach him the ways of life or whatever that crap was. Allison was right, they really did act like brothers. When class started Scott had to hide his and Stiles homework under his notebook. For a second Derek thought Ms. Flemming would suddenly change her mind and ask for their homework right then and there, but when she started the new lesson Derek mentally sighed in relief for Scott.

Class wasn't so bad, Ms. Flemming gave them worksheets and let the class work in groups. Scott had instantly called he and Stiles and Stiles turned Derek's desk around with a force of strength Derek almost fell out of his seat. This gave Scott the perfect oppritunity to finish his homework, since Ms. Flemming was sitting at her desk grading papers.

"Scott be sure to get like three or four wrong," Stiles says quietly. Even though most of the class was talking loudly and totally off subject of what they should be working on, it's better to be safe then sorry. "Aww, why? I could finally get a hundred."

"You never get a hundred on anything," Stiles rolls his eyes. "Don't worry you'll still get a good grade, its just to make it seem like you didn't cheat."

Derek chuckles when Scott grumbles. With as smart as Stiles is they finish their work before the others, during the duration of that Derek had accidently knocked his foot against Stiles leg while he was explaining to Scott how to work on of his problems. Stiles froze and Derek slowly moved his foot away and whispered, "Sorry."

After class was over Scott had hurriedly threw everything in his bag while saying he needed to meet Kira before second period, yelling at Derek he would see him later. That left Derek and Stiles in an awkward silence walking out of the classroom together.

"Can I ask you a question?" Derek blurted out before he could stop himself. Derek must have startled him, because Stiles is looking at him like he doesn't believe Derek is talking to him. "Uh-yeah, what is it?"

"What's the real reason why you don't want me to go in the preserve?" He asks before he could ask something embarrassing like 'did you mean what Allison texted me Friday night?'

Stiles tenses and frowns. "I told you, just don't go in there. Trust me it's not worth it."

"That's not really an answer," Derek narrows his eyes. "Does this have something to do with the..murderer last year?"

Derek grunts when Stiles suddenly stops and he bumps into his back. Gosh he was like a freaking wall, he didn't even stumble. "How do you know that?" Stiles looks at his sharply and Derek flinches, taking a step back. 

"The girls told me," Derek explains, and Stiles looks kind of upset, so Derek waves his hands. "They didn't tell me everything, just some murderer was around and alot of people moved away or-"

Stiles sighs. "Yeah that's...pretty much it." Derek nods and they continue to walk quietly, until Stiles grabs his arm. "Derek wait."

Derek freezes and the only thing he feels is the warmth of Stiles big hand on his skin. His grip was anything but harsh. It was firm and gentle, but still strong enough to keep him in place.

Stiles hesitates for a moment, like he's trying to find the right words, and says, "I know the preserve used to be where you lived, and I know you might want to go back to see if your old house is there, but please trust me. The preserve isn't what it used to be, things changed, alot. Just please promise me you won't go in there."

Derek wasn't naive to see the concern in those brown eyes and hear the sincerity through his words. He slowly puts a hand over Stiles with a light squeeze. "Okay, I promise."

For the first time since he got here last week, Stiles actually smiles at him. His face goes all soft and he is honest to god smiling at him! Derek's heart starts beating against his chest, and Stiles gently squeezes his arm, and then starts pulling him along. "Come on, let's get you to class."

"Okay," Derek blushes and let's himself be led through the halls. Stiles didn't let go of him until he dropped off Derek at his class.

-

After his little moment with Stiles in the hallway, that seemed to open the floodgates that had been between them since they met. Now Stiles talks to him more, inserts him in conversation, asks for his opinion and teases him like he does his other friends, and he touches his more. They're little touches like a hand on his arm, or shoulder, or sometimes it will be on the small of his back. It's like a cold spot when Stiles pulls his hand away when he realizes his touch has been lingering for too long.

Their friends seem to be happy about the new friendship between them. The girls tease him with winks and smug grins or smirks and he blushes which prompts them to cooe over him. Those moments he sometimes catches Stiles smiling softly in his direction. It gets Derek wondering sometimes. The girls have never outright asked him if he did like Stiles, but they seem to understand alot more than he realized. He wonders if Stiles knows? All of the touching, and the smiles, and the staring was starting to confuse him.

The whole crew confused him actually, they were kind of odd. Nobody else seemed to notice but Derek did now that he was in their little social group. They did weird things sometimes that didn't seem normal. Like when Erica was angry because she knew a girl in their art class was talking about her, even though the girl was sitting a good distance away and she suddenly snapped her paintbrush in her hand, or when he thought he heard Isaac actually growl but blamed his stomach because he was hungry. Derek mentally called bullshit because they just had lunch and Isaac had himself a good serving of everyone's food. Then when Lydia dragged him to watch the lacrosse practice he saw Jackson throw a ball at Boyd's head and the big guy had caught it without even looking...with his hands.

They were weird for a bunch of popular people.

"Wow Derek you're a really great drawer," Kira says, eyes wide staring down at his open sketchbook.

"Thank you," he smiles and pulls it closer to him. They were in the library, supposed to be studying for a test for history, but Kira kept getting distracted with texts from Scott, and Derek was finishing drawing his idea for a project in art class.

"Is it for art?" She asks tracing the lines that made up his flower sketch.

"Yeah," Derek nods. "We're doing a project. Supposed to draw a flower that means something to you or something like that." He doesn't remember what Mrs. Drew actually said when she assigned the project. All Derek heard was draw a flower and his pencil was already on his paper.

Kira makes a curious noise looking over his drawing. "Those are orchids right?"

"Yup," Derek nod, then smiles sadly. "They were my mom's favorites. She always had them in the house." He looks down at his drawing, he drew it the way he remembered his mother had the flowers in the house. In a small white rectangular pot on top of the counter in the kitchen, the rays of sunlight barely shining over them making their pink color glow.

Kira smiles kindly. "It's a beautiful drawing," she says. "You draw just as good as Lydia, she's a pretty amazing drawer herself."

Derek snorts, not even surprised. "Lydia's a genius, she can do anything."

"That is true," Kira agrees. "How long have you've been drawing?"

This kind of takes Derek back. He doesn't really remember when he started drawing, or how he even learned. He's just always been good at it. "Pretty much my whole life, it's kind of like second nature to me." He explains.

Kira nods again. "You have a special talent for it."

"I'll say," another voice says happily and Derek jumps, turning around to see Scott and Stiles behind him, looking over his shoulder at his sketchbook. He swore they must be ninjas because they were not there a second ago. Kira didn't look all that fazed about it, just smiles at her boyfriend who returns it back just as dazed as he moves around the table to sit down next to her. Stiles takes a seat next to him, eyes never leaving Derek's drawing. "You're really talented," Stiles raises his eyebrows looking impressed.

Derek blushes and looks away, but his heart is beating away with the compliment, and he is so very pleased. When he turns around he barely sees Scott and Stiles smirking at each other before they turn away and take out their books, Kira just looks amused. Derek blinks, he feels like he's missed something. "What?" He frowns at them.

They start laughing, and Derek feels like they're making fun of him. He wants to curl in on himself, but Stiles ruffles his hair and Derek looks up at him through his lashes. His heart skips a beat when Stiles grins teasingly but his eyes were soft, fond, and another emotion there he didn't dare to think about at the moment.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it," Derek tries not to lean in to the warmth of Stiles hand.

Derek tilts his head and squints at him. "You're weird." Then trying to be cheeky and honest at the same time, smiles widely at Stiles affronted look. "But that's okay, I like weird."

He believes he sees splotches of red on Stiles cheeks, but that would mean he actually made Stiles blush. Instead he ignores Stiles surprised look and turns back to his sketchbook. If he feels Stiles leg push up against his..well it's between them that Derek pushes back.

-

One night Derek is looking between the two brands of cereal. Laura sent him to the grocery store only giving him enough money to buy milk, cereal, and a carton of eggs. Usually Laura would come home with groceries, but when she walked through the door she looked like she would pass out at any moment. So being a good brother who wanted to help out his sister who's done so much for them, Derek decided to take some responsibility in his own hands. Also he got to put his drivers license to use in Laura's car.

He hooked the shopping basket in the crook of his arm. He could either buy Lucky Charms or Fruit Loops. Derek really loves Lucky Charms, because honestly who doesn't? But Cora really loved Fruit Loops, and even though she hasn't had a proper conversation with him and Laura, Cora always used to smile when she saw her favorite cereal brand and Derek really wants to see his little sister smile again. Without hesitation he picks the box of Fruit Loops and places it in the basket. He could go without Lucky Charms for a while.

With his basket full of what he needs Derek happily makes his way to the check out line. He's not really paying attention to where he's going so when he turns the corner out of the cereal aisle and suddenly bumps into a tall stranger.

"Whoa-oh I'm sorry!" Derek takes a step back.

Derek doesn't see his face since it was hidden by the man's hat, but Derek does receive a toothy smile from the man, and for some reason Derek freezes. It's like slow motion and Derek feels a cold shiver down his spine as the man walks past him, a firm hand placed on top of his head. Derek doesn't move, he can't really. The last time he was this frozen he was watching his house burn in flames.

Before he knows it the man is gone and Derek is all alone. He doesn't know how he finds the strength to move on wobbly legs, but he make it to the check out line, everything was hazy when he pays and stumbles out the store, desperately trying to get to the car. The short walk he feels like someone is watching him, and he can't get to the car fast enough, and this time he actually shrieks when he bumps into someone else, almost dropping his stuff.

"Hey kid, you okay?" Two gentle hands grab his shoulders.

This time Derek is met with a more friendly face. The man was an officer judging by his uniform and he has kind blue eyes, and a fatherly concerned face. Derek's eyes move to the tan uniform and the first thing he sees is _Stilinski._ There was doubt this was Stiles father, the famous sheriff.

I'm fine," He clears his throat and steps back. "I'm sorry I wasn't watching where I was going again."

The Sheriff narrows his eyes but accepts his apology anyways. "Don't worry about it, uh?"

"Derek," he smiles and Sheriff Stilinski suddenly looks at him like he's the most interesting thing in the world. He looks like he wants to say something, but holds himself back. "If you'll excuse me I have to get home now." He says kind of awkwardly because the Sheriff is still looking at him with curious eyes.

"Sorry," Stilinski smiles, an almost exact replica of Stiles, Derek notices and steps aside. Stilinski waves before walking inside the store and Derek quickly puts the groceries in the back seat. That gut wrenching feeling of being watched still hasn't left him, and Derek tries to get home fast without speeding.

He gets there twice as fast without an incident, surprisingly.

-

The next day at school Derek doesn't tell Stiles about his run-in with his dad. He doesn't really say anything that morning, the night before still has him on edge and everytime he closes his eyes he sees that smile. He doesn't know why it's bothering him so much, but for some reason he can't get it out of his head, something about it just seemed so..familiar and eerie, very eerie.

Derek's stays quiet throughout the day, mostly looking over his shoulder like he expects someone to spring out and grab him. If the others notice him being distant they don't say anything and he's glad for it. At lunch he distracts himself by drawing Cora's faint smile from last night. The moment she saw her favorite cereal on the table she smiled, even if it was slight it was still progress and Derek committed it to photographic memory.

This distracts him for a while, Allison and Lydia both look impressed with his work but Derek only acknowledges their compliments with a smile then goes back to concentrating on his drawing. Nobody talks to him after that, but he does feel the weight of Stiles gaze on him for the remainder of lunch. When the bell rings he puts his stuff away and heads to class, but not before a warm hand closes around his arm and reels him back.

"What?" Derek says when he sees it's Stiles, and tries to pull away, because he has to get to Finstocks class so he can get his good seat. With Stiles firm grip he doesn't seem like he's gonna let go anytime soon.

"Are you okay?" Stiles asks, a hint of worry in his voice.

Derek blinks at him. "Yeah," but Stiles eyebrows furrow. He doesn't believe him.

"You're lying," Stiles eyes harden, and he looks more like the Stiles, Derek knew before they became friends. "You've been tense all day, like you're scared of something. What wrong?"

Derek blinks at him again. Either Stiles is a very good observer, or he can somehow read Derek's mind because he knows he hasn't been that obvious. Through his whole life Derek has always been good at hiding his emotions, he isn't used to people noticing it because nobody really notices him. But here Stiles is standing in front of him and reading him like he's an open book, and Derek doesn't know how to handle that someone is actually seeing him for the first time.

"My dad said he ran into you yesterday," and when Derek raises his eyebrows, Stiles actually stammers to change his wording. "I mean-he knows I have a friend name Derek because I told him I have a friend name Derek and-"

"I get it." Derek nods absentmindley, but more focus on the fact that Stiles is blushing and looks so nervous.

Stiles blinks, "Anyways my dad said you looked kind of freaked out."

"I was," Derek interrupts him again. "I was freaked out, at the grocery store last night, bumped into a stranger and he freaked me out alot, and then I bumped into your dad and I guess I freaked out even more."

Stiles squints at him. "Who was this stranger?"

Derek shakes his head and shrugs. "I don't know, I didn't get a good look at him. Doesn't really matter anymore, we can't really do anything about creepy strangers."

"Well this guy must have bothered you enough for you to be so skittish all day." Stiles says, then his eyes widened and takes a step towards Derek. "Did he do something to you? Because if he did you can always talk to me and my-"

"Stiles!" Derek grabs his hand, and Stiles looks down at them in shock then back at him. "I'm fine, he didn't do anything. I just happened to run into a creepy stranger who freaked me out, happens all the time."

Derek can tell Stiles still doesn't believe him, but he backs off with a stiff nod. "Okay," he says quietly.

Derek squeezes his hand, kind of lingers there for a few seconds until he realizes they're standing in the middle of a hallway and let's go. "Okay, so I have to get to class," Derek motions his head backwards. "I'll see you later."

He walks away before Stiles could say anything. He doesn't get his good seat.

-

Derek forgets creepy-stranger-guy but that doesn't mean he's not cautious of his surroundings more. Stiles still gives him weird looks but he doesn't bring up anything about the creepy-stranger-guy incident. He still didn't understand why Stiles was so worried about it, and he was pretty sure he heard Stiles and Scott whispering about it before math class started.

"Hey Mrs. Kay." Derek smiled, and placed a book on the counter.

"Hello Derek, how have you been?" Mrs. Kay smiles back and takes the book. "Return or checking out honey?"

"Checking out."

Mrs. Kay types something in her computer and scans the book. "There you go sweetheart."

"Thank you," Derek takes the book.

"Like the school so far?" Mrs. Kay asks. "I've seen you made some friends around here. They treating you well?"

Derek nods. "Yeah, they're great and weird," he chuckles thinking back. Mrs. Kay chuckles. "Can I ask you question?"

"Sure," she smiles.

Derek thinks about it for a few seconds. "There's this friend-"

Mrs. Kay suddenly gasps and grins smugly. "Oh is there a girl you have a crush on?" When Derek makes a face, her face softens. "Or is it a boy?"

"It's a friend," Derek repeats.

Mrs. Kay makes a noise. "Derek Hale you know I am the librarian and I know more secrets than any other students know about each other. You know I'm going to find out sooner or later who this person is."

Derek groans and slumps against the counter, and gives in. "Okay fine it's a boy, but I'm not telling you who he is."

Mrs. Kay holds up her hands. "Okay, I won't pry much. So what's the problem?" She flashes a cheeky grin.

Derek sighs. "So there's this boy that I know and at first we weren't really friends and I started liking him, but then we became friends and getting to know him he's actually this really great person and there are times I think he might like me too, but he's really confusing to figure out."

Mrs. Kay eyes are wide and looks like she trying to process everything he just said, and smiles. "So it's that kind of a situation huh?"

Derek nods again. "I don't want to assume or get my hopes up because there are still things I don't really know about him. Then he kind of slipped up that he told his dad about me, and then sometimes he gives me looks and all that, but then he'll pull away and then he's suddenly worried about me."

"I see," Mrs. Kay nods. "Seems to me he may be trying to figure out what he feels too."

"But what if I'm wrong?" Derek whispers, clutching his book. "What if I'm just making all this up because it's what I want to believe or something?"

He looks up at her hopelessly, and he gets an understanding smile. "If it's something that you want then just go for it. The best thing to do is to be upfront, waiting and just assuming would only get the two of you hurt."

"But what if I'm wrong?" Derek asks again.

"You never know unless you try," Mrs. Kay says gently, then rolls her eyes. "That's the problem with you kids nowadays, always assuming, and waiting, and drawing things out then you get hurt, and then all this drama and misunderstanding happens."

Derek shrugs. "I guess us kids are not as confident as we think we are," He mumbles. "We're all talk and no bite "

"Yeah, believe me I used to be the same way when I was your age," Mrs. Kay chuckles and Derek gapes at her because Mrs. Kay was so happy and outgoing. "When I was in high school I used to be quiet, shy and unpopular. I only had like one best friend and just like every other girl I had a crush on a guy who I couldn't even talk to because I would make a giant fool of myself."

"What did you do?" Derek leans in curiously, and Mrs. Kay laughs.

"Well by the time we were seniors he became one of my good friends and we got to know each other better just like you and your boy-crush." She smirks when he blushes. "Anyways, I was in your predicament. We talked all the time, and there were times where we had our moments and I believed he liked me just like I liked him."

Derek blinks. "Did you tell him?"

Mrs. Kay shakes her head. "At first I didn't. It was always awkward when we had our moments and he was always dating a different girl like every week. I almost gave up hope, until my best friend sat me down one day and told me to just be honest with myself, and him because we were about to graduate and if I didn't say anything I would never see him again." Her eyes soften and there's this far away look in her eyes, like she's reminiscing. "So I gathered up all the courage I could muster and I told him, and even though I was scared of rejection and possibly losing his friendship I still had to take that sacrifice. Now thirty years later and we're still going strong."

Derek's features soften and tries to imagine Mrs. Kay with a husband about as old as she is, happily walking in a park holding hands with smiles on their faces and looking at each other with just as much love for the other. He knows not all relationships are like that, but he's always secretly hopes one day he may find someone who would look at him like he's the most important person in the world, or at least in his partners world.

"Thank you Mrs. Kay," Derek smiles sweetly which she returns. "You're the best."

"No problem sweetie." She grins, and advises. "Remember honesty is everything."

Derek nods, smile never leaving his face even when he leaves.

-

He doesn't mean to intrude in an obvious private conversation, but on his way to biology he overhears Stiles and Scott talking, but only hears a piece of the conversation.

"-full moon Scott, you really think they're gonna be okay?" Stiles says worriedly and Scott sighs, almost like they've had this conversation before.

Derek's eyebrows furrow and he frowns. Full moon? Why are they talking about the full moon? Derek tries to listen in to more and he realizes how wrong it was to listen in on something that wasn't his business, so he decides to forget it and head to class.

Then both Scott and Stiles surprise him by jumping out in front of him, and Derek takes a step back. "Hey Derek!" They both grin.

Derek looks between the two confusingly, their expressions were almost identical; nervous and anticipation.

But Derek doesn't bring any of that up and lamely says back, "Hey."

Stiles wraps his arm around Derek's shoulder and he tenses at the contact, letting Stiles steer him away, waving to Scott. "I'm walking Derek to class, see you later Scotty!"

Derek barely gets the chance to wave at Scott, but he was certain he caught a glance of Scott smirking and giving Stiles a thumbs up. Derek pushes the thought to the back of his mind, and Stiles still hasn't let go of him. Derek feels fidgety and wants to get away from Stiles touch, not because he wants to, but because he could feel eyes from the other students they pass by and it's making him very uncomfortable. Stiles didn't even look fazed by it all.

Stiles arm feels warm and strong around him, and Derek relishes how safe he actually feels.

"You're going to the game this Friday right?" Stiles asks looking down at him.

Derek looks up at him, and he can see something akin to hope in those brown eyes. "Yeah, of course I am," and he pretends his insides aren't doing a back flip when Stiles eyes soften with relief. "Allison said she would pick me up?"

Stiles nods. "Yeah, some of us are gonna hang out at my place," Stiles stops in front of the science class, and still doesn't let go. "You want to come over?'"

Derek raises his eyebrows. "Lydia isn't having one of her extravagant parties?"

Stiles snorts and shakes his head. "I think her and Jackson are gonna have a little alone time, if you know what I mean." And yes, Derek does know judging by the way Stiles wagging his eyebrows. "Erica and Boyd too, so it's just gonna be me, Scott and Kira, Allison and Isaac. They might spend the whole weekend. You wanna come too?"

Derek startles, looking down at his shoes before admitting quietly, "I've never spent the night at anyone's house before."

"Is that a yes I'm hearing?" Stiles says lowly and leans in close, that Derek can feel his warm breath near his face.

Derek swallows, and nods. "Yes, it's a yes." He would have to ask Laura again, but he's pretty sure she would say yes, just like last time.

Stiles arm tightens around him, gently and their faces are so close, all Derek has to do is lean in and their lips could be touching in a matter of seconds. "Good." Stiles whispers.

The bell ringing snaps them out if it and Stiles very reluctantly unwraps his arm and steps back while Derek is mentally counting to ten to calm his racing heart. "I'll see you." Stiles ruffles his head and walks past him, leaving Derek standing there like a frozen statute for a second.

He _so_ couldn't wait for Friday.

-

The guys won their game, barley actually but still won. He kept a close eye out on all of them, mainly because he couldn't get out of his head what he heard Scott and Stiles talking about. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so he let's those thoughts go.

Before she picked him up, Allison texted him to pack a bag of clothes. Laura said yes, just like he knew she would and he had gotten a message from Stiles before the game started which only consisted of a happily smiling emoticon.

It wasn't until he was riding with Allison to Stiles house that he realized he was actually staying with Stiles, in his own house. Stiles says his dad was out of town for the weekend and wouldn't be back until Sunday morning. So it was just going to be six teenagers in a house, with one couple and a not-really-couple-but-are-totally-going-to-makeout because he just knows Isaac will try to do something, and him and Stiles...who aren't anything but friends.

Allison nudges him with her elbow. "You okay? You like kinda sick."

Derek grimaces, shaking his head. "I've never stayed at anyone's house before, so I guess I'm just a little nervous."

Allison nods. "Yeah I was the same way. The first time I stayed over at Lydia's house, I was terrified how big it was. I got lost going from her room to the bathroom most of the time." She makes a face, then adds. "I still do actually."

"Stiles house isn't that big is it?" Derek looks at her with big eyes, and Allison laughs.

"No way. I think only Lydia and Jackson have the big fancy houses around here." She makes a turns down a suburb neighborhood. "Probably in all of Beacon Hills."

That doesn't suprise him, Jackson drives a freaking Porsche. Of course he would be loaded, Lydia too. They're the movie star couple after all.

Allison pulls up to a house where Stiles blue Jeep was already parked outside along with Scott's motorcycle which meant the other were already here. When they exit the car and grab their stiff Stiles was already waiting for them with the door open.

"About time, I thought you two would never get here." Stiles smirks. Allison gives him a look and whispers something in his ear that makes him blush. "Oh shut up!" He whines follows them in.

Derek ignores the others laughing, obviously they knew something he didn't. His eyes roam over the interior of the house. There were pictures hung up on the wall, some of them were of Stiles and Scott as kids, others were more of Stiles and a woman that Derek concludes is Stiles mother.

He looks at the picture of her and he can see how much Stiles resembles her, to the skin and the eyes and the nose, and the hair. Derek was wrong when he compared Stiles smile to his dad, it was more of his mother's than anything. Derek realizes she must not be alive anymore, if it's just Stiles and his dad living here.

"That's my mom," Stiles voice says behind him. Derek doesn't flinch, not when he can hear a slight shake in Stiles voice.

Derek nods. "Yeah I figured." He turns to Stiles. "You look like her."

Stiles smiles. "Yeah I get that alot." He doesn't look like he minds though. "Come on, the others are waiting."

Stiles takes his bag and Derek follows him to the living room where the others were waiting with drinks and popcorn and pizza, with the DVD player ready to start. They watch the new _Batman Vs Superman_ and Derek is a little excited because he's been wanting to see it ever since he saw the trailers on YouTube. They all had their favorites, obviously Stiles, Scott, and Isaac were all for Batman. The girls were in love with Superman, pretty much ogling over him. Scott actually looked a little jealous. Derek was having trouble picking between the two because he loved them both.

Stiles tried to argue why Batman was better and why Superman was lame. "Superman has like the worst secret identity ever, I mean come on glasses, really? He doesn't even look all that different with them on." It was harsh but it was true, and Derek shot back with an argument of his own.

"People see what they want to see." He mumbles quietly. Derek flushes when everyone stares at him, he want expecting them to actually hear him. "What?" Stiles frowns.

"People see what they want to see." Derek repeats. "You're right, Supermans disguise isn't the best, but people see what they expect to see. He's a great hero so they don't expect him to be anything less, much less a fumbling, nerdy reporter."

It's quiet for a moment until Scott makes a small sound. "I never thought of it like that before." The others made noises of agreement, looking a little bummed.

"I'm sorry!" Derek waves his hands. "I didn't mean to ruin the movie or whatever! Just ignore me, I shouldn't have-I'll just keep my mouth shut." Derek brings his knees up to his chest and wraps his arms around his legs.

The others actually start laughing and when Derek blushes the girls cooed over him, again. Derek tries his best scowl but it has no affect and he just settles on taking the popcorn bowl away from Stiles, or more like Stiles let him take it. They finish the rest of the movie without competing which superhero was the best, they all just came to the conclusion that Wonder Woman triumphed over the two.

Scott puts on another movie, and Derek heads to the kitchen for a glass of water. He can only drink soda for so long without it becoming to sweet for him, and he has to wash the taste out of his mouth with water. He's drowning his fourth drink when Stiles saunters in the kitchen.

"Hey you doing okay?" Stiles asks leaning against the counter, crossing his arms. Derek tries not to stare how the action emphasizes the muscles. "You've been looking tense again."

Derek blinks at him, he still doesn't understand how Stiles can read him so easily. It's like he can read his mind or something. "I just feel awkward. I rarely went out as much as I do now, this is literally my first sleep over, like in my entire life."

Stiles hums. "Seems like you missed out on alot of things, you've been doing your first everything since you came here huh?

Derek shrugs and gently places the glass in the sink. "Pretty much, I never really had friends. The only fun I've ever had is going out with my sister's, and that was only when Laura would come back from college."

He jumps when Stiles leans into him, shoulder to shoulder. His body was warm against Derek's, he could feel the heat radiating off of him like a furnace. "Well you do now." And for some reason Derek can't help but smile. "You want to come with me?"

"Where?" Derek eyes widened curiously.

"The store," part of Derek wanted Stiles to say 'to my room', but he tries not to let his disappointment show and nods. "Okay."

Stiles called to the others saying they were going to pick up some candies and more drinks from the store. They drive off and it's kind of quiet with some soft music playing. Derek is watching the houses and buildings pass by. He would get this sense of deja vu, see buildings that seemed familiar to him during his short time here as a small child. His memories are still fuzzy.

Beacon Hills wasn't New York, it was much smaller, but not too small, almost just right. It was certainly a place his mother would have been more comfortable raising them. He doesn't think he'll ever understand why his mom would take them away from this place she wasn't much of a city person. His mom was the type of person who loved small towns and the great outdoors, she loved being isolated. Derek wouldn't have minded growing up here, perhaps he wouldn't have been as lonely as he was for the last twelve years of his life.

Stiles pulls into the grocery, and parks closer to the entrance and unbuckles. Derek does too, but Stiles stops him with a hand on his arm. "I'll be quick, just stay here okay."

Derek nods, watching Stiles walk into the store and disappearing among the aisles. He groans and throws his head back against the seat, when he realizes he forgot his phone at the house. People say they would be quick when they make a quick stop to the store, but they could get distracted by something else they see and then would have to wait for thirty minutes. Derek would know, Laura's done it to him a good number of times.

It was pretty late, and he was surprised the store was open at this time of night. There were only two other cars in the parking lot. Derek watches an older couple walk out of the store and Derek's expression softens with a soft smile. The older man was carrying a bag of groceries while holding the older woman's hand, her other hand holding on to her cane. They looked happy and that did things to Derek heart. He's always had a soft spot for old people, not that he would ever admit that out loud to anyone.

When they leave Derek is alone again, he turns to look inside and is relieved to see a glimpse of Stiles red shirt near the check out line, behind a woman who was loading her stuff in her shopping cart. He was so focused staring through the doors, he didn't notice a figure near the jeep until the door was open and Derek was suddenly grabbed and pulled out of the car.

Derek's shouts were muffled when a hand clamps over his mouth, and he's being dragged away. He struggled with all his might, and he was able to bite his kidnappers hand long enough for it to be pulled away and shout, "Stiles!"

His kidnapper put his hand back over his mouth, and his grip on Derek tightened so strong Derek was afraid this guy would break every bone in his body. He's not sure he heard right but he was certain he could hear Stiles yell his name, but Derek was too far enough away from the store to be certain. There were no cars around, no buildings and it was pitch black besides the light of the full moon, but he could feel the wind in his hair and the panting of his kidnapper that tells him he's running.

Derek hears a crunch sound, like his kidnapper stepped on a branch and Derek realizes they are nowhere near the open road. All he hears is branches crunching, and leaves crushing beneath his captors feet and Derek squints and sees the shadows of large trees around them.

He tries to struggle again, but all he hears is his captor laugh in his ear and Derek freezes when hot breath hits his face. "Stop struggling pretty boy, you'll never get away from me." And Derek shudders when a wet tongue licks the shell of his ear. It feels so wrong. "We're almost there anyways."

Derek wishes more than ever he had gotten off with Stiles at the store. How does someone go from being at a sleepover to being kidnapped? Why him of all people? Derek's not a bad person, he's never done anyone harm. Why is it that the world seems to be against him at the moment.

"Don't worry Derek, you're going to be home very soon." His captor whispers menacingly in his ear, Derek frowns. He has no idea what his captor meant, but he was more worried that this guy knew his name.

The next thing Derek knew his captor threw him to the ground, and Derek grunted glaring up at him, but his captor wasn't looking at him but straight ahead with a smirk on his lips. Derek turns around and his eyes widened when he sees a familiar place he hasn't seen since he was five, a place he had never forgotten.

"This is my old house." He whispers to himself, realizing he was in the preserve. The place was still intact, but it definitely looked like a house that had been abandoned. Some windows were shattered, the front door had claw marks on it looking like it was about to fall off it's hinges.

"Thank you Ennis," A voice says and Derek sees five other people walk out from the shadows. The main person Derek saw, he supposes was the ring leader, wearing a wolf mask, black leather jacket, a green Henley underneath and dark blue jeans. Derek doesn't know what to do but just gape up at this guy, and watches as he kneels down to him. "You're finally home Derek."

"Who-Who are you?" Derek stutters. His eyes dark around but there's not escape route for him. With his captor behind him and the four other guys spread out around there's no way he was gonna escape.

"It's been twelve years since the last time I saw you." The wolf-mask-guy says, and he slowly removes his mask revealing a face he thought he would never see again.

"Dad?" Derek breaths out shakily. And yes this is his dad because Derek inherited his green eyes and dimples from somewhere. He hates how his dad's expression softens, and looks so relaxed like he doesn't have Derek held captive at his will.

"It's been so long, my son," His dad says in a soft voice that reminds Derek so much of his own. Derek flinches away when his dad lifts up a hand to touch his hair, gently stroking the strands. "You don't know how long I've waited for this."

Derek gasps when his dad's eyes turn red, they flash for a second and they're back to normal and he knows he didn't imagine that. Derek is trembling, his father's hand has trailed down, now stroking his cheekbones the way any parent would.

"Please let me go." Derek begs, eyes shining with unshed tears.

His dad makes a sound and shakes his head. "I can't do that baby boy, there's so much we have to catch up on. So many secrets that need to be revealed." His dad smiles, teeth and all, and Derek's memory of that night at the store comes back in his when he realizes it's the same eerie grin from that creepy stranger he ran into. It was his dad.

"Darren," Ennis, his captor says behind him, talking to his dad. "His little boyfriend is coming."

Derek snaps up when he hears that. They must be talking about Stiles, his dad sighs. "Such a waste for one so young." Derek sees his dad look sharply at Ennis. "Kill him."

"No!" Derek grabs his dad's jacket, and begs and pleads. "No, please don't kill him! Please!"

"You have no idea what he really is do you?" His says amused, and pets Derek's hair. "You don't know the secret he and his friends have been keeping from you?"

"How do you know about any of them?" Derek shakes his head. Because none of this makes any sense. He has no idea what's going on. Was this the reason his mother left his father? Because he was a crazy psychopath?

"I've been watching you Derek. Ever since you and your sisters first came back into town." His father says.

Derek doesn't know how to reply to this, he wants to move away he really does, but his dad is still running his fingers through his hair and if he moves he's afraid his dad is going to try and kll him, and his dad's eyes are glowing red again. Derek doesn't understand what that means.

"What are-"

"Let him go!" Derek turns when he hears an animalistic growl.

Derek's dad moves aside when someone jumps at him. Derek knows it's Stiles right away because of his shirt, but his eyes widened when Stiles turns around and all he sees is glowing gold eyes, fangs and claws. There are more roars behind him but Derek is so focused on Stiles as he jumps at his dad again, swiping his claws at him. His dad evades easily.

"Derek!"

He knows that's Allison's voice, and Derek turns around only to see Scott, Isaac and Kira in the same predicament as Stiles. Scott's eyes were glowing red and Isaac's were glowing gold just like Stiles was, and they had fangs and claws too, all three of their faces were shifted and they were fighting off Ennis and the other four men. Kira looked different then the others, her body was glowing orange but she was welding a sword. Allison looked more human than any of them, but she was welding a bow and arrow looking like she was trying to find her target and glancing back at Derek.

"Allison!" He yells back at her, getting her attention. She shoots an arrow at one of his dad's men but just grazes him on his stomach. But that little graze somehow made a big impact because the guy was falling over in mere seconds.

"Hold on I'm coming!" She yells, but a whimper from behind him has Derek turning away from her.

What he sees makes his heart drop. Stiles is on the ground, his shirt cut up and two long slash marks that are bleeding out. One of his dad's clawed hands was dripping with blood, eyes glowing red, but he didn't look like Stiles did. Not nearly as transformed.

Derek's moving before he thinks and drops to Stiles shielding him with his body when his dad looks like he's about to finish his off. "No stop!" Derek cries. "Please don't hurt him!"

His dad suddenly stops and just looks at him, really looks at him and Derek hates how even with glowing red, his eyes still have that soft edge to them, just like Derek remembers when he was little.

"Gosh you remind me so much of Talia," Derek leans closer to Stiles when his dad kneels down beside him again, and his hand comes up and strokes his cheekbone again. "Too much to be honest."

Stiles growls beneath him but his dad ignores him, only focused on Derek. The others have stopped fighting, Scott is helping Isaac to his feet and Kira had sheathed her sword, Allison still has her weapon in her hand, wrapped around just waiting for an attack.

"Why are you doing this?" Derek's voice shakes, his body trembling.

His dad smiles softly with a small, so very small hint of genuine sadness. "That was the same question your mother asked me before she burned to death."

Derek stares back at his father, his words not completely sinking into his head, until they finally do and Derek freezes. "What did you just say?"

"Did you really believe it was a fire that killed your mom?" His dad raises an eyebrow. Derek feels sick.

"You killed mom?" Derek shakily whispers. When his dad nods, Derek feels like someone just grabbed his heart and is sickeningly squeezing it in their bare hands. "How could-"

"Talia thought she could outsmart me," his dad snorts rolling his eyes. "She always had to be one step ahead, trapping me in a circle of mountain ash, leaving with you and your sisters across the country. I searched for twelve years until I finally found you in New York, the last place I would have ever thought she would be. It was relief and heartbreaking when I killed her with my bare claws, setting the fire was a last minute decision."

Derek feels like he might puke, he feels physically sick when his father runs his fingers through his hair again, but at the same time somewhere deep down inside him Derek feels himself being soothed and that makes him feel sick all over again. But then again this is his dad, his other parent, the reason why Derek was even born in the first place. This was one of two people who should have been there to protect him, hold him, love him and make happy family memories, but every part of Derek's dream of his family coming together again has shattered along with his heart. And now he doesn't know if he should blame his father, his mother, or both.

"I should have known Talia was going to run." His dad sighs, hand sliding to respond on the back of Derek's neck. Stiles tried a warning growl but it went unnoticed by the older man. "She was against it. I was going to turn you and your sisters and we were going to be a pack, but your mom had to get in the way, so I had to kill her."

Derek tries to pull away when his dad locks in his neck and pulls him in so that their foreheads are touching. "It's all thanks to you my sweet boy. You've helped your daddy and you never even realized you did." His dad leans in his ear and whispers. "Thank you for breaking the line."

Before he can ask what that means, Derek is suddenly pulled back and Stiles is crouching right in front of him, being the wall between Derek and his father. He can't see Stiles face, but he can tell Stiles is struggling to stay standing, his other hand is putting pressure on the wounds on his stomach. It's like he's using every ounce of will power to keep from falling over.

"Stay away from him." Stiles snarls dangerously, while Derek's dad's eyes glow red again.

"Stiles!" Scott yells, trying to run to him but Ennis is suddenly blocking his way.

Derek's dad ignores them. "You think you can protect him in the state you're in? You can barely even stand, I could kill you in a matter of seconds."

"If it means keeping you away from him then I don't care." Stiles says, pushing Derek back.

"Keeping me away from him?" Derek's dad says, amusingly. "He's my son, I have a right to my own child."

Stiles shakes his head. "No, you lost that right. You killed the mother of your children, you kidnapped your own son. You don't deserve him."

"Then neither do you." His dad says darkly, and his fist quickly connected to Stiles stomach, right on the wounds making Stiles double over, shouting in pain.

Scott and the others move immediately, they don't get by without a fight. Then from the distance there was another roar that caught everyone's attention. Derek watched two more figures emerge from the shadows, only to realize it was Boyd and Erica, eyes glowing gold, fangs and claws sprouting out as they attacked Ennis and the other men.

Derek's dad growled, frustratingly Derek could tell. "Enough!" He growls, eyes burning red and his men stop, obediently. "We're done here." And gestures his head in a certain direction. Ennis and the other men fall back.

"Remember this my son," Derek hears his dad say. "I'm always watching you." Then runs off with the others.

Derek watches after him until he's finally out of slight and slumps down. Scott is already at Stiles side, helping him stand. Erica and Allison run to him, faintly hearing Allison ask if he's hurt. He numbly shakes his head.

"Come on, let's get them back to the house." Scott says.

-

When they finally got home they all went up into Stiles bedroom. Scott laid him down on the bed, while Allison wrapped a spare blanket around Derek where he's sitting on Stiles desk chair. His mind was still trying to wrap around what just happened but he was so exhausted and all he wanted to do was sleep.

Stiles wasn't looking much better, withering on his bed in pain. Scott ripped off his shirt, it was no good anymore, blood was dripping from his body and staining his blue sheets. Isaac tossed Scott some wet cloths and bandages, if this was anyone else Derek would have suggested they go to the hospital, but with everything he just witnessed it was obvious hospitals were a no.

"We have to call his dad," Scott says when he's finished wrapping up Stiles wounds.

"I'll do it," Boyd waves his cell phone in the air, and heads downstairs to make the call. Everyone except Scott follows him.

To Derek's surprise Scott seem pretty calm despite the fact that Stiles almost got killed and is currently bleeding out all over his bed. It's like this is something out of routine.

"Derek," Scott kneels in front of him. "I know we have alot of explaining to do. But I promise everything will be made clear tomorrow, okay?"

Derek nods. "Okay. Stiles isn't going to die is he?"

"No," Scott shakes his head, and puts a hand on his shoulder. "He's going to be fine, he's just going to heal slowly then he usually would."

Derek opens his mouth, hesitates and then says. "Werewolves?"

Scott makes a face but nods slowly. "Yeah, like I said we'll explain everything tomorrow, right now I think it's better if you get some sleep."

"I don't know if I'll be able to." Derek whispers looking down at the floor, then looks back at Stiles.

Scott must have noticed his guilty expression, because he starts shaking Derek's shoulder a little. "Hey, this wasn't your fault, him getting hurt wasn't your fault."

"But he got hurt protecting me." Derek argues.

"He would have protected you anyways," Scott squeezes his shoulder. "He would have done that for all of us. That's just the type of person Stiles is, and if he was awake right now he would say the same thing, it wasn't your fault."

From the bed Stiles makes a small sound that has Scott and Derek by his side. "S-Scott?"

"I'm here buddy," Scott says gently, clutching his hand like a lifeline. Derek feels even more guilty, Scott could have lost his best friend, his brother. "How you feeling?"

"Like shit," Stiles mumbles, and Scott chuckles. "Where's Derek?"

Scott motions his head to where Derek is standing on the other side of the bed. "He's right there next to you."

"I'm sorry Stiles!" Derek clutches Stiles free hand frantically, catching him off guard. "You got hurt because of me."

"Not your fault," Stiles smiles gently, but tired, and lifts one hand up brushing away strands of hair from Derek's forehead. This time Derek leans into his touch. "Never your fault, just glad you're okay."

"But-" Stiles doesn't hear it, already fast asleep, chest rising up and down in a more calming rhythm than before.

"See Derek, I told you he wouldn't blame you, so you shouldn't blame yourself." Scott says, letting go of Stiles hand and walks to the door. "You gonna stay up here?"

"Yeah." Derek nods, gazing at his and Stiles hands.

"I can bring your bag up here if you want to change clothes or take a shower?" Scott suggests, but Derek's shakes his head.

"Tomorrow." He says.

Scott smiles and nods. "Okay, tomorrow." He turns off the lights and closes the door softly behind him.

Derek sighs and slumps to his knees, the events of the night finally catching up with him. He carefully removes his hand from Stiles and sits with his back leaning on the bed. Outside Stiles window Derek sees the full moon shining brightly, and just watches it, and soon is lulled to sleep by Stiles even breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took me so long to update guys but I've been so stressed out with college and homework and I've been having family troubles and everytime I have family troubles I lose interest in everything and feel depressed. 
> 
> Thank you for being so patient :) love you guys


	3. Chapter 3

When Derek wakes up the next morning, streams of soft rays of sunlight are beaming through Stiles window. He rubs his eyes taking the sleep away and takes a moment for everything to come into focus again.

Derek groans, his back stiff from his position on the floor, and when he turns around and sees Stiles still sleeping and his bandaged torso and chest. Everything from the night before floods back to him. The late night trip to the store, him being kidnapped, his dad, the truth about Stiles and the others, the truth about his mother's death. It wasn't a dream after all. 

It was a nightmare.

Stiles looks a little better than he did when they brought him home last night. He didn't look like that sickly pale anymore and his wounds were still there, but his bandages looked brand new meaning someone came and changed them during the night. Stiles miraculously surviving is the only real good thing that came out of all this.

The door opens and Allison walks in, smiling sweetly when she sees Derek sitting up. "Good morning, how did you sleep?"

Derek shrugs, standing up at stretching his arms above his head until he hears that satisfying pop of his bones. "It wasn't very pleasant." He mumbles.

Allison nods. "Are you hungry? Kira and I made some breakfast downstairs." She motions her head backwards out the door. "The others are already eating, I made sure there was a plate for you before they ate it all."

"Thank you," he nods gratefully. To be honest he really didn't have much of an appetite at the moment, but he didn't want to be disrespectful. "I really want to take a shower though."

"Okay," she says, then before Derek realizes it Allison is already crossing the room and enveloping him in a comforting hug, and Derek tenses. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that last night. I know it was a lot on you, but I want you to know that I'm here if you need to talk about it, or vent or whatever."

Derek hugs back, hesitantly at first, but returns the hug fully. He hides his face in her shoulder and sighs when he feels her rubbing his back soothingly. "I know, thank you."

"Trust me," Allison says and pulls back, but still keeps her hands on his shoulders. "I know what you're going through. I've gone through family betrayal myself."

"I guess we're the lucky ones." Derek sighs, looking over at Stiles again.

"He's going to be okay," Allison reassures him. "Stiles is strong."

"Was Boyd able to get a hold of his dad?" Derek asks, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Allison nods. "Yeah, last night. He said he'll be here by lunch time today. Scott's mom might come by too."

"Do their parents know about them being-?" His hand makes a gesture of claws. He gets his answer when Allison laughs at him and nods. Derek doesn't understand how a parent can know their child is a werewolf and be injured to the point of death.

He should get up, he knows he should, he's still wearing the same clothes from last night, and his hair feels gross. But for some reason Derek can't find the will to move from his spot. It's like something inside him is telling him to stay, to be close to Stiles and never leave his side. This weird feeling he can't explain, and it's more than just his silly crush.

"Derek come on," Allison extends her hand. It takes all of his willpower to accept it when it really shouldn't, and when he stands up Derek feels this urgency to sit back down again. Allison must have felt his resistance because she wraps her arm around his shoulder just like he remembers Stiles doing. "He'll be fine I promise, come on, go get cleaned up. I promise you'll feel a lot better."

"Okay," he lets her walk him out of the room, but not before giving Stiles one last glance.

The shower was a giant relief, he felt nice and clean compared to how he did last night. He may have scrubbed at his ear a little more harder than the rest of his body, to get rid of the that ghost feeling where Ennis licked it. He wants to throw up every time he thinks about it.

When he's done he fixes himself up and trots downstairs. Turning a corner he gasps when a pair of arms wrap around him. He knows it's Lydia cause of the strawberry blonde hair blocking his view, his arms automatically wrap around her.

"I'm so happy you're okay," Lydia mumbles in his shoulder, arms tightening around him, then pulls back. "We would have been there, but we didn't get a phone call until after everything happened." She turns around and gives a pointed look to Allison, who he notices is standing by Jackson.

Allison rolls her eyes. "I'm sorry but we didn't have time to call you."

"You had time to call Erica and Boyd." Lydia points out as she grabs his arm and pulls him into the kitchen.

"That was Isaac, he was already on the phone with Boyd by the time Stiles called. He pretty much yelled at us to get a move on." Allison sits down with a huff. Isaac nods at Lydia, confirm it.

Lydia pushes Derek in a chair, and Kira places a plate of eggs and pancakes in front of him with a glass of water. He doesn't say anything, just eats while Scott explains some of the details of last night, Derek tunes them out, only acknowledging Lydia when her hand rests on rhe back of his neck and starts racking her fingers through his hair.

"Derek." Lydia says.

Derek turns to her expecting to see sympathy, pity, guilt for him. He doesn't see any of those in her beautiful green eyes, she smiles at him, expression softened and her fingers are still combing through his hair. "Hm?"

"We're sorry you had to find out like this."

Derek doesn't know what she's talking about more; the fact that all of his new friends are werewolves, or about the truth of his mother and father. He smiles anyways, and turns to Scott and asks. "Are we finally going to talk about it?"

"Yes," Scott nods, then his head perks up and grins. "But first Stiles is waking up."

"Really? Derek says with wide eyes. "How do you know?"

They all chuckle making Derek blush, and Lydia pulls him up the stairs to Stiles bedroom. Sure enough Stiles was awake, eyes blinking and taking in his surroundings until he sits up on his elbows, and makes eye contact with Derek, grinning weakly. Derek sighs in relief.

"Hi." Stiles says, voice rough and hoarse with sleep. He tries to sit up but grunts in pain, and Scott is immediately by his side.

"Dude, take it easy, you still haven't fully healed yet." Scott scolds him with a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him back down.

Lydia sits on the edge of the bed near Stiles like Derek did earlier, and flicked his head, earning her a glare that she returned back full force and alot more scarier. "What was that for?" Stiles growls at her, and Jackson growls back which has Derek a little tense. Lydia just ignores it, continuing to glare at Stiles.

"That's for being reckless and going off on your own and getting hurt," Lydia says sharply. "I thought we all agreed no one was going to play hero anymore."

"If I had waited who knows what they would have done to Derek." Stiles argues back, then mumbles quietly. "Besides it was my fault he was taken in the first place."

"No!" Derek exclaims catching them all by surprise. But he looks at Stiles and says, "It wasn't your fault."

"But I-" Stiles starts, but Lydia smacks him on his chest near his bandages, ignoring the repeated glare, and shakes her head.

Scott clears his throat. "Anyways, Derek you might want to take a seat," he motioned to Stiles desk chair. "We have a lot to explain."

Kira pushes him down in the chair, and everyone makes themselves comfortable. It reminded him of what him and his sisters used to when his mom would tell them a bedtime story when they were younger.

Scott and Stiles share a look, and Stiles nods and Scott looks back to him and says, "Well, it was in the middle of freshmen year, it all started when Stiles and I snuck into the preserve one night."

Derek leaned forward and listened closely. This was going to be a long story, he knew that for sure.

Scott and Stiles explained everything to Derek that's been happening for the last two years, and Derek was listening with wide eyes. He's figured bad things happen around here, bad things happen everywhere, he just wasn't expecting an episode of _Supernatural_ coming to life. Werewolves, lizard monsters, and demon foxes were more than he could have ever imagine. 

"So let me get this straight," Derek says breaking the awkward silence. He points and Scott and Stiles and the other four werewolves and says. "Werewolves?" All six nod.

Derek points at Lydia next, "Banshee?" She nods too.

He turns to Allison. "Hunter?" And she nods smiling proudly.

Finally Derek turns to Kira. "Fox?"

"Kitsune actually," Kira corrects him, shrugging. "But fox works too."

"Okay." Derek sighs and slumps back in the chair. He feels like he can finally breathe again, and gosh after everything Stiles and his friends have been through the past two years, he has no right to complain about his life, ever.

"You're taking this a lot better than I thought you would." Scott says, observing his now relaxed posture.

"Actually it all makes more sense to me now," Derek tells him. "I mean I had this feeling you guys weren't normal. You all kind of striked me as odd."

Erica and Isaac make an affronted noise while Boyd snorts, and Jackson actually scoffs and says, "I'm anything but odd Hale." Which make Scott and Stiles snicker, while Jackson glares at them, eyes shining gold.

"Trust me though I am freaking out, it's just less with you guys and more with the fact that my dad-" Derek stops and swallows and looks down at his hand again. Gosh he can't even say it without him feeling sick. He could feel tears threatening to fall from his eyes, his bottom lip was wobbling keeping him from speaking, and when he feels Lydia next to him with an arm wrapped around his shoulder, he realizes his whole body is trembling. His voice comes out as a shaky sob when he says, "My dad killed my mom. What am I suppose to tell my sisters?"

"You can't tell them anything," Lydia says solemnly. "You know you can't."

"But don't they deserve to know the truth?" He snaps at her with red cheeks and glassy eyes. "She was their mother too. They deserve to know what really happened."

"Derek-" Lydia is about to protest again but is cut off when Stiles firmly says, "Lydia," and shakes his head and looks at everyone else in the room. "Guys can I speak to Derek alone, please?"

Stiles gives them this look like he's silently portraying a secret message to them. They all seem to understand and leavs the room, Lydia a little more reluctant than the others until Jackson grabs her hand and she goes willingly without a second thought. Allison ruffles his hair and Kira squeezes his shoulder before they walk out, and Kira closes the door behind her.

"And no eavesdropping!" Stiles adds before shifting to sit up, clutching his sides and his free hand is patting the space on his bed. "Come sit." he tells Derek.

Derek hesitates, but gives in when Stiles gives him this expectant look. He climbs on the bed, crawling up until he's sitting next to Stiles, he tries so hard to not freak out that he's in Stiles bed, but with his constant fidgeting he's failing, badly.

"Look," Stiles starts, stopping for a minute to reconsider his words and says, "I get how you feel I really do, but as much as I know you don't want to hear it, Lydia's right."

Derek deflates, because of course this isn't what he wanted to hear, but at the same time he understands why he can't tell his sister's the truth. Stiles sees his disappointment and places his hand on top of Derek's, letting his thumb move back and forth over his knuckles.

"I know it's hard, I get it believe me I do. I hid this secret from my dad for a year and a half and all I ever wanted to do was tell him the truth."

"But you still did." Derek points out.

"Not because I wanted to," Stiles shakes his head. "If I could still keep this secret from my dad I would, just so he won't be in danger. But because my dad is the Sheriff, he was already getting in way too deep, then he got kidnapped and I didn't have a choice. He needed to know."

Derek frowns. "Don't my sisters need to know? I mean my dad kidnapped me, he'll probably try to go after them next."

Stiles makes a noise. "I don't think so." and when Derek gives him a look, Stiles squeezes his hand and hastily says. "Look, your dad's been watching you right?" Derek nods. "Then if he wanted to kidnap your sisters he would have done so already. He only seemed interested in you."

"What does that mean?" Derek says confused, and a little terrified.

"Well," Stiles face does something complicated. "Maybe there's something about you that's kind of odd." Stiles smirks while Derek groans for the fact his words were used against him.

"I think I would know if I wasn't normal," Derek says flatly.

"Hey," Stiles quietly says. He feels warm fingers under his chin lifting it up until they're noses were lightly brushing together, and their breaths were mingling. Stiles eyes were roaming all over his face before their eyes meet. "You're a something."

"A something?" Derek chuckles, and Stiles nods. "I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or be offended."

Stiles shakes his head. "Think of it as being special."

Derek grimaces looking away. "I don't feel very special. Not when I have to go home knowing the whole truth while my sisters know a false truth."

"Derek," Stiles grabs his chin again, forcing him to meet his eyes. "Please you have to understand."

"I do understand." Derek nods. "I know I can't say anything to them. Keeping the whole werewolf secret won't be a problem, it's just the truth about my parents-it already feels like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. But don't worry I'll keep quiet."

"Okay." Stiles sighs.

They both stay silent and Derek bumps his head against the headboard and stares at the ceiling, before saying, "Some sleepover."

Stiles, who still hasn't let go of his hand, threads their fingers together. "Sorry it turned out so bad in the end. I should have brought you in the store with me last night, to keep an eye on you."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Derek shrugs, Stiles was about to protest, but Derek stops him, and squeezes their linked hands. "It's not your fault."

Derek smiles at him, and with an act of courage he lays his head on Stiles bare shoulder. Stiles tense for a second but then relaxes, his thumb resuming to stroke back and forth on his hand. He feels Stiles rest his head on his, and Derek closes his eyes feeling truly relaxed. Derek inhaled Stiles scent and even though he hasn't really showered properly, it still comforted him, made him want more of it.

"You smell like my soap," Stiles mumbles in his hair, then inhales deeply. "Can I scent you?"

"Scent?" Derek says slowly, pulling away just in time to see Stiles eyes flash gold. "Is that a werewolf thing?"

"Yes, can I please?" Stiles pleads, almost desperate.

"Okay," Derek says, but Stiles was already leaning, pressing his nose in the crook of his neck, breathing in and puffing warm air out, making Derek's skin break out in goosebumps.

Stiles trails his nose up to his cheek repeating the process of breathing in and puffing out, reminding Derek of the big bad wolf making him mentally laugh. Then Stiles pulls him down on the bed, crawls on top of him and breaths down the other side of his face. Derek's body is flush with Stiles weight on top of him, his breathing quickening, and his heart beating at a tempo he didn't even know it could go. It was the most-well actually it was the only form of intimacy he's ever had in his life, and he's not sure if this could be qualified as sexual intimacy. Obviously to him it was if he could feel himself feeling aroused. He wants to feel embarrassed and kind of wants to push Stiles off because this feeling, Stiles scent so close to his nose, his body aligned with his own, was all too much. He didn't want to humiliate himself by making a mess of himself in his pants all because of a little sniffing. But at the same time he wanted Stiles to do more, to take him in his arms and show him that he wants Derek more than Derek wants him.

Stiles starts growling but it wasn't a menacing sound, it was more of a gentle rumble vibrating through his chest, like a cat purring when being petted. Stiles puffs air down his neck, and Derek has no doubt his skin has turned different shades of red, and to his collarbone. Derek holds his breath as Stiles lifts his head again and lips ghost over his, and Derek had to restrain himself just so he wouldn't sit up and take them. He closes his eyes and counts to ten-actually twenty, to try and regulate his breathing patterns to normal standards, while trying to think of anything that would get rid of the problem in his pants. Unfortunately Derek isn't one to multitask.

"Why does your right ear smell more like soap than your left?" Stiles whispers, hot breath hitting his ear and burning it red. Stiles breathes in again and growls, this time menacing. "There's another scent there."

Derek gulps, "It-It was that other guy, the one that took me, Ennis," he stutters. "He-licked my ear." Stiles growls again, and this time Derek can feel the sharp pointed ends of fangs stabbing into his skin and he completely freaks out. Stiles must sense this because he quickly pulls back, and Derek barely catches a glimpse of Stiles features shifting back to normal.

"Sorry," Stiles looks down at him, looking a little ashamed. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay," Derek shakes his head. With a bold move Derek wraps his arms around Stiles neck, gently brushing his fingers through Stiles hair.

Stiles closes his eyes, humming and leans into Derek's touch, his chest deeply rumbling with that satisfied purr when Derek lightly scratches his scalp. Stiles looks down at him dazed, "Y'know human contact helps the healing process go faster."

"Really?" Derek perks up curiously, trailing his hands down to Stiles shoulders rubbing in circular motions. "Tell me more. What else can werewolves do?"

"Well aside from the super strength, super speed, super hearing, super healing, eyes turning to glow sticks and shifting." Stiles shrugs.

"But werewolves aren't invincible right? You guys probably have a weakness too." Derek says changing the motion of his hands to up and down, feeling Stiles back muscles tense and flex underneath his palms. Stiles nods and Derek says. "So your kind of like Superman."

Stiles snorts. "First of all we are not aliens, and second Superman doesn't have fangs or claws. Oh! And we can hear when a person's lying, when their heart beats faster, when their scent changes based on emotions, of course our eyesight is perfect vision and I think I've gotten alot more better looking than I was-"

"Wait a minute!" Derek stops him and stills his hands, letting them fall on the bed. "You guys can-you can smell what other people are feeling?"

"Yes." Stiles says slowly.

"Oh," Derek says passively, but deep down is deeply dreading. "Your basically a walking lie detector too."

Stiles narrows his eyes. "I don't have to have super senses to know you're nervous right now." Derek flushes and Stiles expression softens. "Derek don't worry, it's something we can do at will. We don't go around invading people's privacy like that."

Derek stays quiet and raises his eyebrows that makes Stiles squirm, which is funny since Stiles is the werewolf and Derek's the human. Stiles sighs giving in. "Okay, I'll be honest we have invaded in people's private emotions." Derek continues to stare him down, Stiles groans. "Oh fine I've invaded in your private emotions too."

Derek huffs a laugh. It seems there was no more hiding anything from these people, and if Stiles has been sensing his emotions since his arrival and knows when he's lying then there was no point in lying. Stiles is still pouting but disappears when Derek rests his hands on his biceps and slowly trails them up until they're wrapped around his neck once again. Stiles is watching him closley, eyes flashing gold. Derek tilts his head forward to bump their noses together. This time it's him who's doing the teasing. Him who's making Stiles breathe hard, and it's him that has Stiles aroused if the hardness that is poking his thigh has anything to say about it.

"What are your senses telling you about my emotions now?" Derek whispers, lips just barely brushing against Stiles, just a slight tease.

"Well," Stiles whispers against his jaw, he could feel blunt teeth gently scraping along his skin. "I think-"

"Stiles!" A voice yells, and both he and Stiles quickly pull away right when the door opens almost halfway off its hinges and Scott bursts in. "Dude hey your-"

Scott looks between them and their odd position, Stiles towards the end of his bed and Derek sitting where Stiles was laying earlier. Scott's face does something complicated, like he's trying to hold back a laugh but failing miserable.

"Uh, am I interrupting something?"

"No!" He and Stiles say simultaneously. Derek rolls his eyes, "Oh my gosh there's no point in lying."

Stiles chuckles awkwardly, then turns to his best friend and says. "What's up Scotty boy?"

Scott shakes his head, and repeats, "Dude your dad called, said he would be here in ten minutes with my mom."

Stiles flashes his unique crooked smile. "Awesome," catching a shirt that Scott grabbed from his drawer.

They follow Scott downstairs and Derek kindly acts like he doesn't hear Scott say. "You're feeling a lot better." Derek smiles when Stiles punches Scott's arm.

-

Ten minutes later Stiles dad bursts in and pulls his son in a tight hug, Derek has to look away, not able to watch a fatherly act while the night before his own father kidnapped him, and is possibly trying to kill him. There was a woman he hadn't notice walk in after the Sheriff, wearing a nurse's outfit, standing by Scott and brushing his hair back the way a mother would. She started her way around the room to the others, inspecting them for injuriess despite the fact that they were werewolves. He could see the resemblance between mother and son, the eyes, the skin, the smile, and the personality.

Derek hides behind the entrance of the living room and keeps quiet, Stiles and his father were talking quietly, then Stiles lifts up his shirt and the Sheriff is inspecting the bandages grimly. He watches Stiles drop his white shirt back into place and grips his dad's shoulders, and the Sheriff looks so relieved he pulls Stiles in another hug. This time Derek doesn't look away, instead he lets himself smile, then the Sheriff spots him and Derek looks away, but Scott's mom is suddenly in front of him.

"You must be Derek," she smiles at him and offers her hand, Derek takes it, "It's nice to meet you, I'm Melissa McCall. I've heard so much about you from St-Scott," Derek blinks at her, and she begins to laugh nervously when Stiles starts coughing. "He loves talking my ear off about new friends, gets too excited like an oversize puppy."

"Mom!" Scott groans.

Derek chuckles. "It's nice to meet you too."

"And it's good to see you again." The Sheriff claps his shoulder, smiling gently.

"Sheriff-" he stops Derek with a hand and says. "Please, just call me John."

Derek blinks again. "Okay?"

Melissa puts her hand on his free shoulder, "We only got part of what happened, but we got the significance of it. You're not hurt are you?" She starts inspecting him.

Derek shakes his head, but she continues on, her medical instincts taking over, telling her to help, to heal. Upon closer inspection he compares her to his own mother, and he sees the difference right away. Melissa McCall was a kind person and an even loving mother, a compassionate human being much like her son, but less naive. She had the gentle nature of a mother but she also had the firmness of a father. Her eyes were soft and had a big open heart. Whereas his own mother was more reserved, fierce, and strict. Still a mother, still showed them affection, but her eyes weren't soft and her heart wasn't as opened, not after they moved anyways. His mother was a subtlety terrifying woman, he had Laura and Cora to prove it, that trait seemed to pass down to them.

"You know you had me worried that night you took off from the grocery store," John says squeezing his shoulder. "When I came home and told Stiles, he immediately yelled at me because I didn't follow you to check if you were okay."

"Sorry." Derek grimaces, suddenly feeling guilty.

John shakes his head, "It's alright kid, I'm just glad you're safe now, and you," John turns around and points at Stiles, "You need to take a shower, like now-actually like yesterday."

"Wh-What, dad!" Stiles turns red, looking between Derek and his father, obviously embarrassed.

"Now." John says sternly, pointing to the stairs until Stiles groans and slumps up the stairs. John turns to Derek and winks at him.

While Stiles was in the shower, Derek explained everything that happened the night before to John and Melissa, even admitting it was his father who was the creepy stranger he ran into at the store. They comforted him after, Derek envied Scott and Stiles, they had such amazing parents, they were everything parents should be.

After a while Lydia, Jackson, Boyd, and Erica all decided to go home, but not before Scott warned them to be careful, and Lydia hugging Derek one last time before leaving. By that time Stiles had came downstairs and was rummaging through the kitchen for whatever was left of breakfast that morning. Derek decided to share some of his he didn't finish eating.

"You're a lifesaver," Stiles mumbles with a mouthful of pancakes, Derek's lips twitched up at the sight. John smacks his son on the back of the head. "Seriously son, learn some manners."

Melissa clears her throat, "So what are we gonna do about Derek's dad?"

"I don't know," Scott sighs, scratching the side of his neck. "I mean there hasn't been any dead bodies found, so he hasn't been killing anybody."

"Stiles thinks he's only after me." Derek adds in.

"Well if that's the case then we just need to make sure Derek isn't alone." Allison says nonchalantly, like it was simple logic.

Stiles groans, hanging his head down in shame. Derek consolingly rubs his back and shakes his head. "I don't think it would've mattered, he probably would have taken me whether I was alone or not."

"What's your fathers name?" John asks Derek as he pours sugar in his coffee.

"Darren Hale." Derek answers, the frowns. "If you want information about him, then your better off asking my big sister Laura, I only have slight vague memories."

"Hey wait!" Stiles exclaims, hitting the table with his palm, earning a stern glare from his dad. "I think I remember your dad saying your mom trapped him in a circle of mountain ash."

"What is that?" Derek's eyebrows furrow.

But nobody answers him, when Scott says. "Well if Derek's mom had access to mountain ash, then she had to have known Deaton."

"Deaton?" Derek looks away, that name does sound familiar. He puts his hand on Stiles shoulder and squeezes it to get his attention, a memory coming back to him. "I think I remember my mom talking on the phone with someone named Deaton one time."

"Really?" Stiles eyes widened, sharing a look with Scott, then looks back at him. "What do you remember?"

Derek closes his eyes, and travels deep into his mind to find that memory once again. "Well, I think it was about three-four years ago."

-

_"Mom?"_

_Derek pokes his head in the kitchen, frowning when he doesn't see his mother. He could see the potatoes in the oven from the small window of it, and the timer on the counter was ticking down to when they finish. He stomach growled at the smell, and he rubbed his belly, like the gesture would somehow soothe it._

_He walks out and bypasses the living room, where Cora was sitting on the couch and laughing at her shows. Derek trots up the stairs, follows the hallway to the end where the small library is, where his mom is in everyday, the door is slightly ajar, and as he gets closer he can hear a soft murmur which gets louder the closer he approaches. Leaning against the wall and peaking inside he can see his mom sitting in the recliner, talking on the landline._

_"-don't need anymore, I've got enough to last a life time, but I suppose more wouldn't hurt." She says, fully closing the book on the table._

_He watches her nod along to whatever the other person on the other line was saying, but her expression was tight and her eyes were dark. Suddenly her expression changes, to something between guilt and sorrow, and that shakes Derek to his core because his mother has always been a confident person, someone who shows no regret, no doubts. Derek thinks he can see her eyes glisten, like she's about to cry. He's never seen her cry before._

_"I'm sorry Deaton," Talia chokes back a sob. "I know I've told you before many times, but I have to because I truly am sorry. I should have believed you, you were right, right about everything from the start and-"_

_"Mom?" Derek interrupts her, and to Derek's surprise she actually jumps. "Are you okay?"_

_"I'm fine," Talia clears her throat, then her up her hand to him, to wait, and continues to talk into the phone. "Listen, I'll talk to you later, or whenever I can. Okay, bye." She clicks the END buton and hangs up._

_"Who was that?" Derek questions curiously, blinking at her._

_"Just an old friend, no one you need to concern yourself with."_

-

"An old friend huh," Stiles looks at Scott. "We should go talk to Deaton, like now."

Scott nods, "Okay then lets go."

"What, right now?" Derek looks between the two.

"Yeah." They say at the same time, standing up.

Allison steps up next to Derek and puts a hand on his shoulder, but is looking at Stiles and Scott and says, "I'm going too."

"Okay," Scott nods, then looks over at Kira and Isaac, raising an eyebrow, "You guys coming?"

Both shake their heads, and Kira says, "We'll wait here."

Scott nods again, then leans in and shares a quick peck with Kira, and in the corner of his eye Derek notices Allison looking away. Stiles has already fetched his keys and is pulling Derek along by his hand until the reach the Jeep, him in the front, and Scott and Allison in the back. He'd be lying if he says there wasn't a small amount of tension coming from back there. He thinks this is Stiles doing, since he pretty much shoved Derek in the front seat.

It takes about twenty minutes to get to their destination, and when Stiles pulls into a small building Derek looks at him with a frown. "Why are we at an animal clinic?"

"Trust me," Stiles says exiting the vehicle. "I think all of our questions are about to be answered."

Derek looks apprehensive, and Scott must have noticed when he squeezes Derek shoulder and says. "Don't worry, I actually work here."

The revelation seems to make Derek feel a little better, and they follow Scott inside where a dark skin man wearing a white lab coat greets them. The man glances at Derek for a second but smiles at Scott and says. "I suppose you need something if your here on your day off Scott, and I see you have a new friend."

Scott nods. "Deaton this is-"

"Derek Hale."

Derek's eyes widened and Stiles says. "So you do know him then."

"Yes, I'd recognize Talia Hale's son anywhere." He says staring straight at Derek. Then he turns around and says. "Follow me."

Deaton leads them to the back room where a large metal table in the middle, books and jars and pictures of animals on the shelves and walls. In the corner was a small cage where a small puppy was sleeping, a German Shepherd if he had to guess.

"Your mother and I were really good friends Derek." Deaton says, grabbing a small box from behind some books and opens it, pulling out a small photo and places it on the table.

Derek steps up and looks at it. Sure enough it was a picture of Deaton and Derek's mom, both in white lab coats, neither is looking at the camera but seem to be looking over a small dog, Derek can't tell what breed it is.

"My mom's dead." Derek says looking up at the vet.

"I know." Deaton nods solemnly.

Derek gives him a sharp look. "How?"

"If she wasn't dead then I assure you, you wouldn't be in Beacon Hills, talking to me right now." Deaton says. "Derek she did everything in her power to keep you and your sisters away from this town, but especially you."

"Just get to the point." Derek says coldly. "I want to know the truth about everything, I'm sick of being lied to."

Deaton sighs and begins to explains. "Your mother was a druid, just like I am."

Derek raises his eyebrows. "Druid?" Then he shakes his head. "Why am I even surprised when there are two werewolves right next to me."

"Your father wasn't always a werewolf." Deaton says. "He was human before, a kind and generous man your mother immediately fell in love with. Talia was so in love with him she decided she was going to tell him her secret, about being a druid, about the other supernatural that exist in this world. I warned her not to, told her he was just a human, all this would be too much for him, but she was adamant Darren could be trusted." Deaton shakes his head sighing. "Even though I was against it I still supported her decision, and trusted her judgement, because she was my best friend."

Something in Deaton's eyes changed, they were softer, more open. It reminded Derek of his mom when he found her talking on the phone that day. But there was something different, the emotions the man was trying so hard to hide Derek could see clear as day and it made sense to him.

"Unfortunately everything I feared came to pass, and Darren became obssessed with everything that involved the supernatural, especially werewolves." Deaton says. "Getting Talia to believe me was the hard part, it took alot for her to finally see the signs."

"Who was the alpha that bit him?" Allison asks.

"Deucalion," Deaton says. "An old friend of mine and Talia's, and an alpha werewolf. He was a wise man but was hell bent on power, wanted to create the strongest pack, an alpha pack."

"An alpha pack? Like a bunch of alphas in one pack?" Scott's eyes widened when he looks at Stiles.

"Wouldn't that be fun?" Stiles says sarcastically.

Deaton ignores them and continues. "Darren somehow managed to get Duke to turn him, and by the time Talia finally found out Darren's true intentions it was too late to stop him. He had already killed Duke and became an alpha, he was going to turn his own family into werewolves and create his own pack and take over this town. Whoever didn't survive the bite wasn't strong enough to be apart of his pack."

"Obviously he didn't get the chance to do any of that," Stiles points out. "Derek's dad said Talia trapped him in a circle of mountain ash."

Deaton nodded. "Yes that is true. When she realized her and the children were the first who Darren was gonna turn Talia managed to trap him, she gathered up the children and everything she needed and fled the state." He says the last part looking straight at Derek. "I would be in touch with her at least once or twice a year. She thought it would be too dangerous if we kept in contact for longer than that."

Derek didn't say anything, too busy trying to process all this new information in his head and make sense of it all again. Stiles comes up behind him and places a hand on his back, a comforting gesture, it made him feel better he wasn't alone in all this crap, but guilty at the same time he brought them all in it. But there was something that stil nagged him.

"Why did he do it?" Derek asks. "I don't understand. What was the point in doing all of this?"

Deaton hummed leaning against the table and crossing his arms and says. "I asked Talia this same question once, she told me she thinks it had something to do with Darren being abandoned by his own parents as a child, along with his insecurities he had growing up. He desperately wanted a family who would be there with him forever."

"So by becoming an alpha and building a pack, he could have control over everyone and everything that came in and out of his life." Stiles says filling in the rest of the blanks.

"Correct," Deaton nods. "But when his plan failed and Talia left, he felt betrayed and abandoned by the one person he loved the most. So he plotted his revenge and devoted twelve years of his life to finding Talia."

"Okay wait a minute," Allison says waving her hands around. "What I want to know is how he got out of the mountain ash circle? Someone had to have let him out."

Still not knowing what mountain ash was Derek was confused, but the other three teens just stared at Deaton like he had the answer, but they only got a shrug in return. "I'm sorry Allison but I'm afraid I can't answer that."

"Guess the only one who can is Darren himself." Scott says sighing.

"What's mountain ash?" Derek asks looking at all of them with raised eyebrows.

Deaton grabs a small jar from one of the shelves and holds it between his fingers, Derek sees nothing but a black powdery substance inside. Derek tilts his head to the side and narrows his eyes, it looked kind of familiar.

"It's what druids use to protect us from the supernatural, especially werewolves. If either created in a circle or a horizontal line on a threshold of a door or window, it can prevent werewolves from crossing the ash. Think of it like a barrier. Only a druid has the power to control it, or break the line of ash and recreate it again. Humans are not bound by it like werewolves are but they can't control it either." Deaton says. Then he looks at the bottle again, almost calculating and frowns. "Now that I think about it, there is something I don't understand."

"What is it?" Scott says sounding worried.

"Talia's house was lined with mountain ash, every entrance actually. So how did Darren get into the house?" 

"A druid like her wouldn't be that careless." Stiles says. "Talia was probably cautious all the time, right Deaton?"

"She was." Deaton nods.

Derek stood frozen as he stared at the small jar in Deaton's hand, really looking at the black ash inside. The others were too distracted to notice his growing panic, and he was so stupid to not have realize this the moment Deaton took out that stupid jar.

_Think of it like a barrier._

Deaton's words replay inside his head, like a song on repeat, but this time it's his mother's voice that saying them because she has said those words before. Derek takes a step back, but nobody notices, then he takes another step back and this time Stiles is the one who notices and turns to him with eyes filled with concern and worry.

"Derek what's wrong?" Stiles says taking a cautious step towards him.

Derek shakes his head and stumbles out of the room and down the short hall until he's finally outside. He leans against the side of the building and slides down, hiding his head in his hands. He feels like he can't breathe, like all the air around him was gone and the world was punishing him for his stupid mistake by suffocating him to death.

"Derek?" Stiles says again. He must have followed Derek out, and was now kneeling in front of him, trying to gently pry Derek's hands from his face. Sad green eyes look into warm brown and Derek hiccups a sob, Stiles frowns and says gently. "Hey what happened in there?"

"My fault," Derek sobs. "It's all my fault."

"What is?"

"It's my fault that my mom's dead." Derek whispers, and hearing himself say that Derek finally breaks. Tears just pour out of him and his sobbing gets louder when Stiles pulls him to his chest, shushing him and caressing his hair. "It's all my fault." Derek repeats over and over again.

The others come out, but Stiles ignores them and says. "No whatever it is it's not your fault okay? Nothing about any of this is your fault, and it never will be."

Derek shakes his head and pushes away from Stiles and says. "No you don't understand, the moutain ash, it was me who messed with the mountain ash!"

Stiles eyes widened and he turned to the others who looked just about as stunned with Derek's revelation, especially Deaton, who looked more curious than anything. The vet kneeled down next to him and says. "Derek what do you mean you messed with the mountain ash?"

Derek sniffles. "Well she told me-"

-

_"Mom what is this stuff?" Derek asks reaching his hand toward the windowsill where the black powder was lined across neatly on the small ledge. This stuff was all over the house in every window and door entrance, when his hand gets closer to touching it Derek swore he could see something move and-_

_"Derek don't touch that!" His mom exclaims sharply that makes him jump. He turns guilty to her and winces at her disproving look. "Sorry." He mumbles quietly._

_"When I say don't touch something I mean it." Talia says firmly with her arms crossed. "I'm hoping we're not gonna have a repeat performance in the future."_

_"I was just wondering what it is," Derek shrugs. "You have this stuff all over the house."_

_Talia sighs. "What it is doesn't matter, just know it's for protection, to keep all the bad things away from us." She pauses then says. "Think of it like a barrier."_

_"Oh." Derek says._

_"Derek listen to me," his mother bends at eye level, her voice firm and serious. "If you do accidentally mess up the ash, on either the windows or the doors you come tell me right away. Do you understand me?"_

_Derek nods. "Yes ma'am."_

-

"That day of the fire my sisters and I were going to the movies, but Laura was rushing me and annoying me so I got really frustrated with her. On the way out I accidentally stepped on the ash and it came apart, I was going to tell mom but I didn't, because I decided it wasn't a big deal." Derek shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "Obviously it was. That's what my dad meant when he thanked me for breaking the line."

"That doesn't mean any of it was your fault." Stiles says but Derek shakes his head again, a protest on his tongue, but Stiles cups his cheeks. "No no no, listen to me you can't blame yourself. How could you have known any of this would have happened? You've been in the dark about all of this most of your life, you didn't deserve to be brought into this, any of it."

"But-" Derek says but stops at Stiles sharp glare. Deaton sighs loudly that  Scott's attention and he tiredly rubs his eyes.

"Deaton what do you know?" Scott questions.

"Derek has inherited Talia's druid nature," Deaton says, and they all look at him with wide eyes. He explains, "One day she brought him in here when he was very little, she tried to keep him from the animals and he became very upset and his spark reacted to his emotions, which in turn broke every jar of mountain ash I had. It was hectic to try and calm him down and there was mountain ash all over the floor, including the ash I usually have lined around the building. After that Talia vowed to never let Darren find out, but I suppose secrets don't matter at this point, especially if Darren knows this now."

Derek raised his eyebrows at the revelation. The secrets just kept stacking higher and higher and soon there was gonna be a whole tower of them.

"So does that mean Derek's a druid too?" Allison asks.

"If he trained and learned to control his spark he could be." Deaton nods then adds. "It's not easy though, that kind of training takes years, there has to be a commitment."

"Are my sisters like me?" Derek turns to the man. He needs to know this, he needs to know if there was still a sense of normalcy in his life. Even if it's through his sisters.

"No." Deaton shakes his head and says. "A small part of a spark may be inside them, but it's not as strong as yours."

Derek swallows and asks. "Is my dad going to try and kill me because I'm just like my mom?"

"The reason your father wanted to turn your family was to have total control." Deaton says. "And turning your mother would mean she would have no more control over mountain ash, or any other thing that could possibly harm or kill werewolves. Though when Talia betrayed him, his plan changed and decided to kill her instead, I don't think he was expecting his own son to have as strong a spark as his mother."

Derek shakes his head. "Then why not kill me too when he found out I was like her?"

"You're still his son Derek." Deaton says like that answered everything. "If I may guess he was probably hoping for you and your sisters to come back here so he could resume his plans. But I suppose twelve years away from here can change alot, again I don't think he was expecting for there to already be a pack of teenagers to be in control of this place."

"Great so he's gonna be after all of us then." Stiles sighs. "If his plan isn't going his way a second time, then he's going to have to do something to gain his control back."

"I'm afraid so." Deaton nods.

"Well I guess we'll just have to wait it out until he makes his move." Scott says. He nods to Stiles and Stiles nods back to whatever mutual agreement they just shared and grabs Derek's hand, helping him up from the ground. "I think this is enough for one day. Derek's been through hell as it is."

"Okay." Deaton says quietly.

They walk back to the Jeep, Stiles is leading Derek with a hand on his back again, but Derek halts in his steps and turns back to Deaton. They look each other in eyes until Derek's lips twitch up and says. "Thank you, for telling me the truth."

Deaton opens his mouth to say something, but seems to decide against it and smiles back and nods then walks back inside the building.

-

When they get back to the house Kira and Isaac were alone and John and Melissa had gone back to their respective jobs. Scott informs the other two about their meeting with Deaton, when dinner time rolls around Stiles decides to order pizza and Derek order two large pepperoni with sausage and an order of cheese sticks. He kindly ignores Stiles judgemental eyes and sits on the couch sighing, patiently waiting for the food.

It takes a good thirty minutes for the food to arrive and when it does Derek is the first to dig in. By his third pizza he barely notices the others staring at him with wide eyes.

"Sorry," Derek blushes, shamelessly taking another bite. "I eat alot when I'm upset."

They all nod and Isaac says. "We can tell."

"How do you keep it all down?" Allison says eyeing his stomach, then looks back at her own like she's comparing the two of them. "You're so tiny, for a guy I mean."

This prompt Kira to do the same thing, and Derek feeling a little insecure, wraps his arm around his stomach and says. "I just have a really high metabolism."

"So do we." The boys and Kira say, but Kira mumbles quietly. "I'm not that small though."

Stiles laughs and rests his arm on the couch behind Derek's head. "That's because we work out everyday with lacrosse and stuff. We gained alot of muscle."

The others agree, quietly mumbling and they stray from the subject, and Stiles puts on Netflix, so they change into more comfortable clothes. It's take a while to find something good to watch, but they agree on some movie with Leonardo DiCaprio, but Derek was so full and so tired he barely stayed awake to watch the first ten minutes of it before he knocks out.

Three hours later he wakes up, the TV was still on but everyone else was asleep on the floor with blankets and pillows. He's not sure of the time so he pats himself down to find his phone and finds it near his thigh on the sofa. Derek turns it on, surprisingly still close to fully charged, and he has three texts from Laura. The time said it was barely eleven, but he decided not to respond, also his bladder has caught his attention so he throws it back on the couch.

Quietly he tiptoes out of the living room and up the stairs. After finishing his business he walks out of the bathroom a little bit more awake, and that's when he notices Stiles bedroom door slightly open and the light was on too. He walks over and lightly knocks on the door while pushing it open and says. "Stiles?"

He finds Stiles rummaging through his desk drawers till he stops and turns to Derek with a kind smile. "Hey I heard you wake up. You okay?"

"Yes." Derek nods walking in and closing the door. "What are you doing? I thought you were asleep downstairs."

Stiles shakes his head. "Nah I woke up before you did. My dad called me, then my phone was dying so I've been trying to find my charger, but I don't remember where I put the damn thing."

"Oh." Derek says and sits on the bed, shifting back towards the headboard. Stiles sighs and closes his drawers, plopping down next to him. "I'll look for it later."

There's silence for a few minutes, then Derek breaks it by asking. "What did your dad want?"

"Just to tell me he was working the night shift." Stiles snorts and grins slyly. "I know he's lying though."

"You can tell he's lying through the phone?" Derek frowns.

Stiles snorts again. "No but I know he's lying, he hates the night shift. He thinks he's slick, but I'm pretty sure he says that because he wants to spend nights alone with Melissa."

Derek raises his eyebrows. "Really? Him and Melissa?"

Stiles nods and Derek notices a soft look in his eyes, almost fond of the thought of his father and his best friends mother as an item. However behind all that fondness is a small speck of sadness that Derek thinks is a part in Stiles heart that doesn't want his father to move on and give his love to another woman that isn't his mother.

So he can't help but ask. "Are you okay with that?"

Stiles nods, lips quirk up in a hesitant smile. "I am actually. I just want my dad to be happy, even if-" Stiles trails off.

Derek reaches out and covers Stiles hand. "I know." Then to take Stiles mind away from sad thoughts he says. "Deaton was in love with my mother."

Stiles head snaps up, eyes wide and says. "What? How do you know?"

"Just the way he talked about her." Derek shrugs. "I might be wrong, but there's no denying how much he cared about her."

Stiles hums and says. "You ever felt that way about anyone?"

Derek grins and says teasingly. "Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious." Stiles shrugs trying to act cool about it, but Derek can see how genuine his curiosity was.

Derek giggles and says. "I've never even dated anyone before, and there hasn't really been someone who's shown an interest in me." Which now that he admits out loud, sounds very lame. He's had crushes before, but no one ever gave him a second glance, so he admired from afar until he got over those crushes.

"Danny likes you." Stiles blurts out, then his eyes go wide and his face kind of pales, like he didn't mean to say it.

Derek actually laughs. "What? I think your senses are overloading." But seeing Stiles expression unchanging his smile fades to tter disbelief. "Are you-serious?"

"He thinks your cute, and adorable." Stiles says and Derek jaw just drops.

"Stiles this is Danny we're talking about here." Derek says trying to make reason of it. "He is the embodiment of perfection, he's every girl and guys dream date, he's way out of my league-he's like in major leagues, I'm not even in the minor leagues I'm in-" Derek sighs and slumps. "I'm in little league."

"I think you underestimate how attractive people actually find you." Stiles clears his throat. "I can pick out every girl and occasional guy who want to jump your bones."

"But I already like someone."

Stiles doesn't look all surprised and it's about what Derek expects, but Stiles still raises his eyebrows curiously and says. "Want to tell me who this lucky person is?"

Derek looks up and meets his eyes and whispers. "You know who."

Stiles nods and Derek smiles when Stiles wraps an arm around his waist and pulls him closer, their lips meet in a soft sweet kiss, and all of Derek's insecurities of his inexperience went out the window and he just let Stiles lead him. Derek always wondered how his first kiss would be like, and like every shitty romance book and movie has said before him, this was everything he imagined it would be, and more so.

When they pull away they don't stray too far, Stiles trails his nose down the side of his face, Derek thinks he's scenting him again, like he was earlier today. "That was your first kiss right?" Stiles whispers.

Derek chuckles. "Yes." Then adds with a big smile. "I liked it."

Stiles grins against his cheek. "I'm glad you did. I've been wanting to do that for a long time."

Derek's eyes widened and he pulls back, looking up at Stiles. "Really? You have?"

"Ever since I first saw you." Stiles admits, and that's a mind blower for Derek, because he remembers a whole different vibe when he first saw Stiles. The harsh glares and stoic attitude didn't scream I wanna kiss you.

"I thought you hated me at first." Derek says. "You were always glaring at me, like you didn't want me around."

"Sorry," Stiles grimaces and pulls him closer. "I didn't mean to make it seem like that. When I first saw you I had a hard time controlling myself, so I had to act hostile to keep you away, so I could have control over myself when you were around."

"It worked." Derek chirps.

Stiles scowls. "I know, I hated how much it did." His scowl transforms to a grin, then kisses Derek's forehead. "We don't have to worry about that anymore. Right?"

"Right." Derek nods. "We're dating now?"

"Yes." Stiles says, sounding pleased.

Derek beamed. He and Stiles were dating. Stiles is now his boyfriend. The thought sunk into his head more and more until it finally came to a realization that this was real, and his eyes widen and his heart was hammering and this flush of embarrassment and fear comes over him because this was official.

A hand touches his face. "Derek what's wrong? You're heart is beating like crazy." Stiles voices with concern.

"We're dating-you and I are-dating." Derek mumbles incoherently.

"Yeah," Stiles says softly, then tenses. "Please don't tell me you're freaking out because of that."

Derek shakes his head. "No of course not. It's just-your the first person I'm officially dating, and I'm scared that I'm not gonna be good enough because-I'm totally clueless about what to do."

"You don't have to worry about anything." Stiles assures and kisses him. "You're gonna be great I promise, and I'm going to take care of you."

"Really?" He repeats more timidly.

Stiles nods caressing his cheek. "I promise baby, I'll always take care of you."

Derek blushes at the nickname but ignores it and kisses Stiles with more confidence than before, Stiles still leads it even though Derek initiated it, but he was more handsy and pushes Derek into the bed, recreating their position from earlier this morning. Their toungues meet and Derek gasps, hands moving up to Stiles hair and gripping it with harsh tugs.

Stiles doesn't seem to mind, his mouth moves down his jawline to his neck, softly nipping. Derek whimpers when those lips move up to a sensitive spot behind his left ear, gently sucking on the delicate skin there. Then suddenly Stiles stops and pulls back, a thoughtful look on his face.

"What is it?" Derek asks frowning, his long fingers now threading through brown hair.

"I just remembered where my charger is." Stiles says quickly moving off of him, and rummaging through something on the other side. He makes a triumphant sound, popping his head up, grinning as he holds the white charger one hand. "It was in my gym bag, I forgot I left it in there."

Smiling fondly Derek crawls over kissing Stiles again, just a small chaste kiss and Stiles pleasingly hums. Derek pulls away first and chuckles by how dazed Stiles looks. "Well since you found what you need, I think we should go back downstairs now."

"Can't we just stay here?" Stiles whines, lips pouting. "I'd rather you stay here, in my bed, where you'll smell like me."

"I think I smell like you enough." Derek rolls his eyes then off the bed. "Come on, back downstairs."

Stiles grumbles but follows him out, when they enter the living room Derek quietly tiptoes and lies on the couch safely tucking his phone in his hands, he thinks Stiles has gone back to sleep on the floor but then feels himself being pulled back until he feels his back touch a firm chest that makes him almost yelp.

"What are you doing!" Derek whispers.

"Shh just go to sleep." Stiles whispers back, arms wrapping fully around Derek's body.

"Stiles!" Derek hisses.

"It's fine," Stiles mumbles against his neck. "We're dating now so cuddling is a thing."

Stiles trails off and soon Derek can feel his warm breath brush against his skin and hear his soft snores. Derek's hand finds one of Stiles that's resting on his belly and softly brushes his fingers against it. Stiles was right, they were dating so there was nothing to hide. He trusts Stiles to help them through it, to take care of him. Tomorrow he would probably be worried again but for now he relaxed in Stiles hold, and drifts off to sleep.

The next morning Derek wakes up to four pairs of eyes watching him with wicked grins that makes his eyes wide and sits up when he remembers his position.

"It's about time." Allison laughs and ruffles his hair, the others hum in agreement.

He feels a chuckle rumble behind him, knowing it's Stiles he threads their fingers together and lays his head back down. "I'm too tired for this."

"Breakfast is ready." Kira informs them.

Derek immediately sits up ignoring Stiles squawk. "On second thought I'm not really tired at all."

The others laugh and Stiles releases him from his grip, Derek freezes when he sees the Sheriff but his gaze is firmly on his son. "Hey dad."

"You know the rules Stiles," John says. "The only time you two go in that room is if there's an adult around."

"Got it." Stiles sighs defeated.

Derek smiles but nods at John accepting his terms. Everything was gonna be fine.


	4. Chapter 4

Monday when Derek walks into school, he catches secret glances, hushed whispers, and giggles from the other students, mainly the girls.

He didn't think anything of it at first, just throught it was everyday teenage gossip. But when he caught a couple of girls he recognized from his art class, outright staring at him, then giggling, then staring at him again, then noticed some of the other kids doing the same thing. He felt like he woke up in an alternate dimension. The sad thing was they weren't even trying to be subtle. He ignores them though and walks to his locker like normal, trying really hard to ignore the fact his ears were heating up, and taking out the supplies he needs for his class.

It's only when he feels strong arms wrap around his waist and a kiss on his neck, does he realize why he's suddenly the talk of the school this morning.

"Good morning," he turns in the hold and smiles up at Stiles, tiptoes up to peck a kiss on Stiles' lips. He whispers, "People are talking about us."

"I know," Stiles says grinning, like he's not bothered at all. "Once Lydia found out the whole school knew."

"I'm impressed how fast news gets around here," Derek says, eyebrows raised, looking behind Stiles at the other students who were still glancing and whispering behind their back. "They have no sense of subtlety do they. How long are they going to be talking about us?"

"Just let them talk, I don't give a crap about what they say. The only thing they need to know is that you're mine." Stiles says, rubbing his fingers along Derek's sides, then kisses him so softly it wrecks Derek's brain, making him forget they were standing in a hallway filled with people. "Just give it a week, someone else will be the center of their attention."

"Okay." Derek sighs dreamily. Stiles smirks and grabs his hands, lacing their fingers as they walk to class hand in hand.

They walk in the classroom and Scott smiles when he sees their linked hands. Danny just raises an eyebrow at Stiles, who clasps his hand on Danny's shoulder. They talk quietly for a minute, until Danny snorts and rolls his eyes, but throws a wink at Derek over his shoulder, mouthing, _Good luck_.

Derek laughs and crosses his fingers playfully, a joke that Danny understood and laughs too. Derek grins hearing Stiles huff and fall in his seat, but those hands never stop touching him, shivers when a finger lightly grazes his nape. Stiles only stops touching him when the teacher starts explaining the lesson plan, but on occasion he'll feel a light brush against his leg during the class period.

As good as a distraction as Stiles was, Derek still hasn't gotten over what happened over the weekend. He was cautious, more alert than ever, even though he was assured by Scott that his father and his pack were no longer in Beacon Hills when they did a wide search for them around town on Sunday. He went home that day half tense, but mostly giddy, and was teased by Laura when she noticed a spring in his step and started pressing him for answers. So he told her about Stiles and their growing friendship, to their new relationship. Obviously leaving out the supernatural parts. Laura practically squealed, raced off and came back to him with a collection of condoms and lubrication, and a promise that Derek would bring Stiles over to meet her. He made sure to mention that to Stiles when they were texting that night, and not about the condoms and lube, along with a side note of explanations of how crazy his sisters were.

He laughed when he all he received was a paragraph of scared face emojis.

But throughout the day Derek was slowly starting to loosen up, relax, and getting used to the feeling of having a boyfriend. Stiles never let him stray too far, instead of sitting between Lydia and Allison at lunch, he moved to sit in the empty spot next to Stiles, where Stiles starts scenting him. The girls had a field day to tease and coo over them the whole time. Then he would walk Derek to every single one of his classes. They would linger outside the classroom before the bell rings, talking, holding each other, ignoring the people still talking about them. When class would start Stiles would kiss him, then send him on in with a gentle push, sometimes Derek had to take a moment to stop himself from squealing like a girl.

When he walked into History, face flushed and silly smile etched on his face, Allison raises her eyebrows, and Derek huffs. "Oh shut up."

-

A week after they were sitting on the couch at Stiles' house, cuddling. Stiles tried to charm him to his room, and before they were dating Derek would have been all for it, but he was intent on respecting John's rule. The TV was on but they weren't watching it, too preoccupied with each other's presence. Stiles had taken to scenting him, then would make out for a bit, then Stiles would touch him all over his body, leaving trails of heat on his skin, but would avoid the one place Derek was aching to be touched.

It...makes him frustrated, because he knows Stiles can smell his arousal just as much as he can feel it, and he wants Stiles to just touch him there, touch him in the way Derek's never had the courage to touch himself. He tries to get Stiles to do it, by sliding his own hand over Stiles' thigh hoping to enable him, but when he gets close enough to barely graze Stiles crotch with his fingertips, Stiles changes their position and goes back to scenting him. It leaves Derek feeling needy, a little hard, and thinking of things that will help him cool down.

"What do you think of going on a double date?" Stiles asks out of the blue.

The question startles Derek out of his daze. "What?"

"A double date," Stiles repeats pulling away, eyebrows raised. "You and me. Scott and Kira. Going to the movies, or bowling, or ice skating."

"Oh," Derek says, blinking. Then mumbles. "Yeah, I guess."

"We don't have to go on a double date." Stiles says, sounding a little unsure. "It's just something Scott suggested, and I think it would be fun. Plus I want you to get to know my best friend a little better."

"Okay, I can go for a double date." Derek agrees.

Yeah?" Stiles smiles brightly. "What would you like to do?"

"Are those three options you just said the only ones?" Derek asks.

"Pretty much." Stiles nods.

"Okay," Derek says, thinking it over for a minute. "Then I want to go bowling. I've never done it before."

"You sure?" Stiles asks.

"Yeah. Trust me I think it's better than going ice skating." Derek says, scrunching his nose. "Let's face it, me on a field of ice with thin blades attached to my feet, that's an accident waiting to happen."

Stiles chuckles. "Okay, then bowling it is."

They kiss again, until it's time for Stiles to take Derek home.

-

The double date does happen two days later on Wednesday night, and they do go bowling. Stiles has to teach him the rules, how to hold the ball, how to throw the ball, and how to win. Of course on his first try Derek misses, and by his tenth try he manages to only knock down two pins. Stiles thinks it's progress. Derek doesn't.

"I suck!" Derek declared when he misses again.

"No you don't," Stiles says. "You just need a little more practice."

"Easy for you to say," Derek snorts. "You have your wolfy reflexes to help you."

Despite his complaining, Derek had a lot of fun. Scott and Kira were great, as playful as kids honestly. Stiles seemed pleased he was becoming better friends with Scott, and Scott assured Derek he was part of the pack. It was a good feeling, like he finally found a place where he belonged.

After bowling the four of them went to a diner where they-mainly Stiles-stuffed their faces with curly fries, then they went for ice cream, and after that they went their separate ways. Scott and Kira went back to Scott's house, and he and Stiles went for a drive on the town. It was peaceful, normal, different in a good kind of way.

"Tonight was fun." He says to Stiles.

"Yeah?" Stiles smiles. "Maybe we can do it again sometime."

"Does that mean going on a double date with the others?" Derek asks.

"Nah," Stiles shakes his head, then looks thoughtful. "Lydia might want us to though, she really likes you, Jackson might not be so thrilled, but he can't argue with her anyways." He explains, "Erica and Boyd don't do that. Erica believes their dates should be between them and no one else, obviously Boyd agreed with her."

"Yeah that sounds like her," Derek chuckles. "We should do that, just us, on a date."

"Oh trust me we will." Stiles winks.

Stiles takes him home when he sees Derek dozing off. He parks outside the building but Derek doesn't want to move, despite him being tired, and stares up at the massive window where he could see the lights were still on, which meant his sisters were probably still awake. What better time.

"Hey," he says, turning to Stiles. "You want to meet my sisters?"

Stiles blinks. "Right now?" He says slowly, eyes shifting back and forth between Derek and the building.

"Yeah," Derek nods, amused, nudging Stiles with his elbow. "Man up wolf boy you can't keep putting this off forever."

"From what you told me I have every right to."

"They aren't that bad, just try and stay on their good side and you'll be fine," Derek says, then gives his best puppy dog eyes. "Come on, please. I met your family, now I want you to meet mine."

Stiles gives in easily. "Okay." He sighs.

"Thank you," Derek says smiling happily, leaning over to press a quick kiss to Stiles cheek. "Come on." He jumps out of the Jeep.

They walk inside hand in hand, Derek leading him to the elevator where it takes them up to the door of the loft. His nervousness doesn't really click until he puts his hand on the door handle, because this is real and happening as he slides the door open. "Laura I'm home!" He calls out, pulling Stiles inside. "And I brought a surprise!"

He feels Stiles squeeze his hand, then Laura is running down the staircase, grinning excitedly like a little kid on Christmas. Until she sees Stiles and her eyes widened. "Oh my gosh. Is that him?"

"Yeah," Derek nods, pullin Stiles closer, who looks a little uncomfortable with they way Laura was staring at him. "This is Stiles."

"Nice to meet you." Stiles waves nervously. It was amusing how the werewolf was afraid of a human woman.

"Derek why didn't you tell me he was coming?" Laura says, glaring and accusing. "I would've made myself look more presentable, I look like a hobo." She was wearing nothing but a white spaghetti strap shirt with black short shorts, and her long dark hair was in a messy bun. She was obviously getting ready for bed before they came in, there were still traces of leftover makeup on her face. Derek snorts.

"Sorry," he shrugs. "It was last minute."

"Whatever," Laura scoffs, but smiles brightly at Stiles as she walks up to him and shakes his hand and says, "Anyways it's great to finally meet you, Derek's told me so much about you. I'm Laura, and I promise I'm much prettier than I look now. We weren't expecting you." She says the last part, narrowing her eyes at Derek.

"Stiles Stilinski." Stiles says, a little flabbergasted.

"I don't know how Derek managed to snag you, but I approve." Laura says racking her eyes up and down Stiles body, nodding idly, making Stiles blush and fidget. Derek decides it's time to step in.

"Stop flirting."

"Shush, Derek I'm appreciating your fine taste in boys." She waves him off.

"I don't appreciate your fine taste in boys. He's my boyfriend, go appreciate your own."

"I would but I don't have one anymore."

"What!"

Laura ignores him in favor of calling out, "Cora come down here!" Who responds back with barley heard "coming!"

"Laura," Derek says carefully, because he knows his sister, but she waves him off, and he has no choice but to let it go.

"He's cuter than I thought he'd be." Cora says when she comes downstairs and sees Stiles.

"Cora be nice." Laura scolds.

Cora ignores her though, crosses her arms and says, "I think it's time for the shovel talk."

"No," Derek shakes his head frantically. "No shovel talk. I just brought him here to meet you, not for you to scare him off with threats of bodily harm."

"Derek it's okay," Stiles says placing a hand on his shoulder. Derek looks back at him, concerned, but Stiles just smiles and turns to his sisters. "Look no relationship is perfect so I can't promise I won't hurt him. I'm sure we'll both make our fair share of mistakes along the way, but I can promise I'll take care of him, as best as I can."

Derek's heart stuttered and was sure Stiles had heard it but didn't acknowledge it. Too busy looking at his sisters with a fierce determination on his face. He was worried when his sisters gave each other a look, like they came to an understanding, then turned back to Stiles with a smile. Knowing those smiles Derek relaxes.

"We like you, and we're holding you to your promises." Laura says and Stiles visibly deflates in relief.

After that fiasco was over Laura invited Stiles to stay for a while. They talked and asked questions and Stiles got to know his sisters better. Derek was a little worried with how well Stiles and Laura got along, but he was happy nonetheless. Unfortunately it was getting late, and by the time Cora decided it was time for bed, Stiles decided it was time to head home.

"I hope we won't get you in trouble with your dad for getting home so late." Laura says.

"Nah he's working the night shift tonight, so he won't be home anyways." Stiles shrugs it off.

"Well it was still great meeting you finally," Laura pulls Stiles in for a hug. "I'm glad my brother found someone as great as you."

Derek smiles when Stiles eyes widened and his hands flail around, but he returns the hug with a flattered grin.

"You walking him out?" Laura asks Derek when she breaks the hug.

"Yeah," Derek nods and holds out his hand for Stiles to take. "Come on."

Stiles takes his hand and Derek leads him out of the loft after he says his goodbye to Laura. They don't talk on the ride down to the lower floor, but they keep their hands linked when they exist the lift and walk to the entrance.

"You were right, your sisters aren't so bad." Stiles says.

"Told ya," Derek huffs. "They really like you though, so you have nothing to be afraid of anymore."

"Except Cora." Stiles points out.

"Yeah except Cora," Derek rolls his eyes. "You do realize my sisters can't actually do any physical harm to you."

"Yes, but I can tell how protective they are of you. You'd be suprised the strength people gain when it comes to protecting the people they care about." Stiles says. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow." He brings up their hands and gently kisses Derek's knuckles like they were the most sacred thing in the world.

"You text me when you get home." Derek says.

"Okay mom." Stiles smirks playfully.

Derek winces. "Sorry I didn't mean for it to sound like that. I'm still a little on edge about everything."

"Derek your dad hasn't been in town since that night," Stiles assures him. "We've been checking so don't worry, we have his scent. We'll know if he's been around."

"I know but I can't help but worry." Derek sighs. He's also worried his father might hunt the pack just to get to him, but he doesn't voice that out loud.

"Hey come here," Stiles grabs his waist and pulls him closer, pressing his lips against Derek's in an innocent kiss.

He pushes back and deepens the kiss, smoothing his hands up Stiles' chest, curling them around the back of his neck, trying to make the kiss more heated, to get Stiles more into it. It seemed to work when Stiles pulls his body flush against Derek's, but the moment Derek manages to get a little tongue action Stiles pulls away and Derek whines.

"Why do you keep holding back?" He whispers against Stiles' lips, then kisses him again.

"I don't want to mess this up by taking things too fast." Stiles says.

"Well I don't want us to go at a snails pace." Derek argues.

"I know," Stiles breaths, curling his arms around his back. "Trust me, when I'm with you there are days I just wanna lose control." He growls softly and his eyes flash gold, but he closes them and takes a breath. "Look in the past my relationships haven't always been in the best mindset, and weren't genuine, I wasn't proud how I handled them. But I don't want that anymore, I want to do things right with you. Even if I have to hold myself back and do the stupidly cliche couple things like Scott, and I never wanted to be like Scott when it comes to relationships."

"Weren't you the one who said relationships aren't perfect about an hour ago?" Derek chuckles and Stiles shrugs, "Stiles I don't want you to hold back on me because of bad experiences, or because you think I can't handle it. I want you to be real with me."

Stiles stays quiet, eyes furrowed like he's concentrating. Derek wonders if he's listening to his heartbeat for any skips.

"I know I'm no expert in relationships since you're basically my first, but I think I've seen enough couples and understand enough that honesty is the most important thing. I don't want you to be like Scott or anybody else, just be yourself around me." Derek says scratching the hairs at Stiles' nape. "Both sides of yourself, man and wolf alike."

Stiles nods whispering, "Okay."

He hums when Stiles leans in and kisses him again, this time more passionately almost hungrily and Derek gasps, which prompts Stiles to slide his tongue in. Derek moans softly when Stiles mouths down his jaw to his neck, teasing with small nips of blunt teeth.

"God you smell so fucking good," Stiles growls nosing against his pulse point breathing in. "You have no idea all the things I want to do to you."

"You have no idea all the thing I want you to do to me." Derek says breathlessly and a little boldly.

Stiles chuckles low in his neck and whispers, "Yeah," then pulls away, eyes flashing gold again. Derek smiles, happy Stiles was beginning to act more like himself. He pulls away and says, "I should go though, before it gets any later."

Derek nods. "Okay. Remember to text me when you get home."

"I will," Stiles kisses him one last time, then jogs to his Jeep.

Derek stays for a bit, watching him pull out and drive away until he was out of sight. He takes one more look out into the darkness, for cautious measures, then goes back up to the loft.

Laura was sitting at the kitchen table still when he walks in, looking through a familiar small box before she looks up at him and smiles. "He's gone?" She asks. Derek nods. "I really liked him, honestly Der."

"I know, I'm happy you do." Derek smiles, then asks. "What are you doing?"

"Looking through one of mom's boxes." She says.

"I thought all of mom's stuff was burned in the fire," he says kindly ignoring her small flinch. They haven't really spoken about the fire since they came to this town-and Derek didn't want to now that he knows the truth of it-but it does come up once in a while.

"Not all of them," she gestures to the box. "This was one of the ones she made me keep in my car."

Derek remembers seeing that box. It was always on the floor of the backseat on the drivers side. He'd always thought it held Laura's belongings, so he never asked what it was.

"Oh," Derek says. "What does it have in it?"

"Nothing important, just some old photos and a bottle of that old powder she used to keep around the house." Laura shrugs sliding the box away from her. Derek freezes but she doesn't notice, just keeps talking about the pictures. "There's one photo I saw that had uncle Peter in it, kind of forgot about him. Haven't seen him in years."

"Yeah." He whispers.

He doesn't remember his uncle, he was still really little the last time he saw him. All he remembers was that he was his mother's younger brother, Laura had more memories of him, but after they moved to New York they never saw him again. His mother never talked about him either. Now that everything was made clear to him, he wonders if Peter was out there somewhere, living the supernatural life. He wonders if Peter knows his big sister was dead? They never contacted him, but there wasn't any contact information to even find him.

"Derek what's wrong?" Laura asks breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Can I keep the box in my room?" He asks suddenly.

Laura doesn't seem suspicious of his request, just shrugs and says, "Go for it. I think I'll buy a small photo album to put the pictures in."

Derek grabs the box and automatically pulls out the small jar of mountain ash, holding it between his fingers. Deep down he could feel this curling sensation as he stared at it. Like something inside him was waiting to burst out. He forgets Laura was there until he hears her laughing. "What?"

"You're doing that thing you used to do when you were little." She says amusingly.

Derek frowns. "What thing?"

"That thing you used to do, when mom had that shit spread around the house." She says like he can recall it, but he doesn't. "You probably don't remember, you were still young. It was our first week in New York, but you would stare at that stuff for a long time. Mom always tried to make sure you stayed away from it, but when I asked you one time you told me you thought you could move it with your mind."

She laughs but Derek doesn't. "I never knew that."

"It was a long time ago," Laura waves it off. "I asked mom but she never wanted to tell me anything."

Of course. Derek thinks. He tightnes his grip on the jar. "Guess there's alot of thing mom didn't want to tell us."

"Probably," Laura says, then yawns. "Alright I'm going to bed."

"Good night," Derek says putting the jar back in the box and taking it upstairs to his room.

He puts the box on his desk and gets ready for bed. By the time he lays down his phone starts buzzing, and he smiles when he reads the message from Stiles.

_Stiles: I'm home safe and sound! Are you happy now?_

Derek chuckles.

_Derek: Good!_

He barely puts the phone down before he gets another message and his face turns bright red.

_Stiles: I wish you were here with me in my bed, then it would be a really good night_

Derek's glad he's alone because he starts grinning silly, hand coming to his mouth to stop whatever noise was about to come out.

_Derek: I wish I was there too, try not to get too lonely_

_Stiles: I am lonely..guess it'll have to wait for another day_

_Stiles: Raincheck?_

_Derek: Raincheck!_

Derek could only imagine it at this point. Being alone with Stiles, having the whole loft to themsleves for a day or two, doing whatever they wanted. He shakes his head, needing to stop these thoughts before he got too excited.

_Stiles: I'm going to sleep now, good night Der. Have the sweetest dreams and they better be of me!!!_

Derek grins. There's was only one word he could reply back with.

_Derek: Ditto!_

Derek snuggles in his bed, sighing. Stiles being the only thing on his mind at the moment. He wonders what Stiles is doing or thinking at this moment. Derek hopes it's of him. He can't help but smile silly when he thinks of Stiles period, especially with the day they've had.

Speaking of that.

His eyes find the box sitting on his desk. With what's in it, he thinks he probably should have told Stiles he had his own jar of mountain ash now. However the only person who could help him understand what to do with it would be Deaton.

He thinks of what Laura told him, of the memories of his mother, his father and the information Deaton told him. Then he thinks of his sisters and Stiles, and all his new friends and comes to a decision. For now however sleep was what he needed, and tomorrow he would worry about everything else.

-

School the next day Stiles was already waiting for him when Laura dropped him off, casually leaning against his Jeep watching him. Derek smiles accepting Stiles' outstretched hand, allowing himself to be pulled in closer.

"You're here early." Derek says.

"Was waiting for you," Stiles mumbles scenting his neck. "I dreamt of you last night."

"Oh really?" Derek arches his neck to give Stiles more access.

"Mh-mm," Stiles noses up his jaw, to his ear and whispers, "Woke up with a hard situation." He rolls his hips against Derek's for emphasis.

"I can tell," Derek blushes. It obviously hasn't gone away yet.

"You two should be arrested for public indecency," a voice says behind them. Derek can feel his face burn when he turns and sees Lydia and Allison with smirks on their faces. "Looks like Stiles is already being a bad influence on you Der-bear."

"I am offended you think I'm a bad influence on people." Stiles scoffs.

"You are."

"Still offended."

"It's fine," Derek cuts off their bickering. "I won't be as bad as him."

Derek smirks when Stiles mutters dude, then the bell rings. "Time to head in." Lydia says linking her arm with Allison's.

From behind Stiles wraps an arm around his waist. Derek leans back in the hold, relishing in it for a few seconds before grabbing Stiles hand pulling him along. "Come on," he says. Stiles mouths at his neck but Derek shakes his head. "Hey, we promised rain check remember."

"Damn rain check." Stiles murmurs.

Derek laughs. "Come on."

Derek spent PE period in the library since the coach dismissed them for the day, he honestly didn't mind, he had homework to do anyways. He had a short conversation with Mrs. Kay before he sat down at a table and got to work.

Halfway finish through writing an essay for english Lydia and Allison find him and joined him. He ignores them for a good ten minutes, but the monent his eyes start to strain and the words in the books and papers start to look fuzzy, he decides it was time for a break, and he catches the last part of their conversation.

"If I wasn't dating Jackson I would totally have one of them." Lydia says sighing.

Derek frowns as he rubs his eyes watching both girls eyeing a pair of unfamiliar twins standing near a bookshelf. They were-yeah they were definitely attractive, and the black leather jackets they were wearing made their bad boy appearance more significant, which made their attractiveness go up one more notch. If this were another time and place where Derek was still single and pretty much off everyone's radar, then he would have admired them from afar trying to figure out which one he would like more than the other.

Allison turns back to Lydia with a playful smile, raising her eyebrows as she says, "Which one?"

"The straight one obviously," Lydia says taking a sip of her drink.

Derek raises his eyebrows and Allison frowns, turning back to the twins. They watched one of them turn around when Danny walked around the corner, distracting Danny with a cute smile long enough for him to bump into another student walking by. To his amusement the situation reminded Derek of the first day he walked into math class and tripped over Danny's backpack when he got a glimpse of Stiles for the first time.

"Are they new?" Derek asks.

"Just came here today," Lydia says, still staring at them, twirling her hair between her fingers. "You think they're cute Der-bear?"

"Uh yeah?" Derek blinks, but Lydia didn't seem like she was paying attention to him. She was making heart eyes at the other twin, who was surprisingly staring back at her with obvious interest.

"Lydia." Allison says almost like a warning, eyes narrow.

"What?" She says with fake innocence. "Lighten up Ally there's nothing wrong with a little flirting."

Allison didn't look pleased by that. "Do you remember the last time something like this happened? You and Jackson didn't talk for two weeks, and it was torture because you kept putting all of us in the middle of your relationship drama."

"Jackson just needs to get over it." Lydia shrugs, completely disregarding it, then gets up and walks off to the cute twin.

Derek watches her flirt, and is a little envious how naturally it comes to her, Allison looks more annoyed to his surprise. It's the first time he's seen that kind of expression from her towards Lydia.

Allison shakes her head then gives Derek a half smile. "Let's get out of here."

Derek doesn't say anything, just gathers his things and follows her, sending a wave to Mrs. Kay on the way out. He glances back at Lydia, and accidentally makes eye contact with the twin flirting with Lydia for a split second. His body shivers, and he wasn't sure if it was the good kind or the creepy kind.

"I swear she never learns." Allison growls when they're in the hallway.

"I'm guessing that happens alot." Derek says when he snaps out of it. 

"Too often," Allison sighs. "I hate to say it because she's my best friend and I love her, but she's so insensitive to everyone's feelings sometimes, especially Jackson's. I mean it's fine if we see a guy and mutually agree if he's attractive or not, but she's so," Allison waves her hands around, like that action alone can somehow explain what she's trying to say. "She's just insensitive."

"Oh." Derek says.

"Her and Jackson must be fighting again." Allison sighs again. "It's the only reason she's being like this. The last time something like this happened was last year, she almost had an affair with a new deputy, but she ended it before it could even begin because Jackson swooned her back."

"Really?" Derek says surprised, then thinks back. "They don't seem like they've been fighting, they always seem at ease with each other."

"Yeah they're always like that," Allison says. "They look like the perfect couple on the outside, but in reality their relationship is an absolute mess. Half the time it's not even Jackson's fault they argue it's Lydia's, she just likes to pin everything on him cause he's easier to blame. The guys think it's funny when she humiliates him, but I think she forgets that's he's-"

"A real person who has real feelings," Derek finishes her sentence, she nods. "I get it, it's easier to blame him cause he's a jerk, he may be a pretty rich boy but he has flaws too. Lydia's smart enough to know how to use those flaws against him."

Allison nods again. "They love each other they really do. The biggest problem with them is that they don't communicate with each other, they don't talk over things, tell each other what the other is feeling. I feel sorry for Jackson most of the time, Lydia expects so much from him. That's mostly why they argue," she explains. "She expects him to know what what she wants and how she feels, but when he says or does something she doesn't want him to she flips. Believe it or not Lydia has this thing where she likes to be in control with him, and I get she doesn't want to be one of those girls who gets pushed around by her boyfriend and all, but I can see how much it hurts him when he doesn't meet her expectations, or when he disappoints her. It breaks his self-esteem his self worth, and it doesn't help when Stiles reminds him daily that Lydia's a genius who can do better him than him."

Derek understands. That can really bring down someone's self worth. Nobody wants to be told they're not worth something, no matter how pretty, ugly, skinny or fat someone is, or whether they're smart or stupid, nice or mean, different skin color, or of different sexuality. Everyone wants to be accepted in the world, or accepted by someone. It's just part of human nature. It..honestly made Derek think of his dad. If everything Deaton told him was true, then his dad lost all of his self worth when he was abandoned by his parents, the two people who should have loved him more than anything. It made him feel sympathetic and understanding. His dad had no one to love him, no one to show him what was right and what was wrong, no one to tell him it was okay. Instead he took all that pain, all that loneliness, and used it into creating a new family under his terms for the wrong reason.

Being a jerk was Jackson's way of dealing with his pain, and possibly for him to conserve what dignity he has left, and from what Allison told him, has every right to. Guys were always the first to be blamed for everything when it came to girls or relationships-not that he was being biased cause he knows guys aren't perfect either, but everyone seemed to forget that girls could be just as dangerous, manipulative and cunning. Times like this made Derek remember not everyone's perfect, not Jackson and especially not Lydia. Everyone, Derek too, placed her on this high pedistool where she was at the top, had everything going for her, basically flawless in every aspect. They failed to see she was just as flawed as everyone else.

"What'll Jackson do if he finds out about it?" Derek asks a little worried.

"I have a feeling he already knows." Allison says, tapping her ear.

Derek was genuinely confused for a second, before he remembered. The werewolf super hearing. "Oh." He says again.

"Yeah," Allison grimaces. "Fair warning, be prepared for a lot drama in the near future."

Yeah he was not looking forward to that.

-

"There's something I need to tell you." Derek says to Stiles as he and Scott changed out of their practice clothes.

Stiles asked him to stay after school and wait for lacrosse to finish so they could hang out. Derek waited until all the guys left before he walked in the locker room, where he found Scott and Stiles in the boxers, freshly showered, digging for their clothes in their lockers. Kira walked in a few minutes after, she too showered and already dressed, and joined him on the bench. It was the perfect opportunity to talk, especially with Scott there.

"What is it?" Stiled says distracted as he pulls on his jeans.

"After you left last night Laura was looking through some of my mom's stuff she made Laura keep in her car," he explains. "I found a bottle of mountain ash."

This caught their attention. Stiles blinks and says, "Oh really?" Derek nods and takes out the jar from a small pocket of his backpack.

"I uh," Derek begins but hesitates. Stiles freezes from pulling out his shirt from his locker, staring at him curiously. "I want to talk to Deaton. I want him to teach me how to use it."

The three of them blink at him. Derek repeats to them what Laura told him last night.

"That's cool dude," Scott said smiling. "I was just about to head over there for work. I can tell him for you if you want."

"Yeah," Derek nods gratefully.

"Okay well we're gonna head out," he extends a hand to Kira. "I guess I'll see you in a few minutes?"

"We'll be there." Stiles nods.

"See ya," he and Kira wave, walking out of the locker room hand in hand.

Stiles, who's still shirtless much to Derek's delight, sits next to him on the bench and says, "Derek are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes," Derek says firmly, no hesitation. "I have to."

"You know you don't have to follow in your mothers footsteps." Stiles says.

"I know," Derek nods. "But it's for emergencies only, if something bad happens to me."

"I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." Stiles eyes sharpen, and reassures him. "I'm gonna protect you no matter what."

"I know, but this is for _me_." Derek says, grip tightening on the jar. "If something bad happens, and you or any of the others aren't around I want to be able to protect myself. We don't know where my dad is or when he's gonna come back, or what he's gonna do if he comes back, or who he's gonna send. If there's something I can do to protect myself and my sisters then I want to do it. I'm _gonna_ do it."

"Okay, okay," Stiles nods, patting his hand. He frowns and looks down at the jar. "Derek look."

Derek looks down too and his eyes widened. The mountain ash was swirling inside the jar. He fumbles setting it down on the bench, both watching in awe when the ash settles back down. He and Stiles share a look before Derek, cautiously, reaches for it, sighing in relief when nothing happens when he wraps his fingers around the jar.

Stiles clears his throat. "Well that was..new." He said eyeing the jar wearily.

"That is definitely another reason I need Deaton to teach me how to use this stuff." Derek says, stuffing it in his backpack. "I didn't seem upset just now did I? Seems like the only times this stuff ever works with me is when I'm upset."

"You did seem a little frustrated, but I think that was my fault." Stiles says, face falling.

"No, it wasn't." Derek assures him, resting a hand on Stiles bare chest. The skin under his palm was warm and smooth, his fingers softly trailing down the lean lines of muscle, over the firmness of defined abs until he reaches the trail of black hair that disappears just below the jeans. It was the second time he got to see Stiles shirtless, the first time not being a great memory, and he was gonna enjoy it as much as he could. "We should probably go though. Don't want to keep them waiting."

"Okay."

They leave moments later, walking down the empty halls of the school and making a pit stop at Stiles' locker cause he forgot a book. Outside the blue Jeep was alone in the parking lot aside from two motorbikes smiliar to Scott's own, parked three spaces away, and a teacher putting her belongings away in her car.

They drive the familiar route to the vet clinic in silence. Scott was already waiting for them by the door whey they arrived. He takes them to the back, where they find Deaton standing by the metal table with his own jar of mountain ash, smiling when he notices them walk in.

"Nice to see you again Derek. I was wondering how long it would take you to come back."

Derek raises his eyebrows at this. "You were expecting me?"

"I knew you would have questions." Deaton says all knowing.

It was a little creepy if you asked him, and confusing.

"Why didn't you just tell me everything before?" He asks.

"It had to be your choice whether or not you were interested enough to learn more." Deaton shrugs. "I'm sure now you've found your reason to want to."

"Yes." He nods, shocked Deaton seemed to have it figured out before he ever did.

"Well lucky for you mountain ash is simple enough to use, even for a first timer." Deaton says uncapping the jar. He motions at Scott and Stiles. "Boys if you can please stand on the other side of the door."

Stiles looked hesitant but Scott happily ushered him along, ignoring Stiles muttering about feeling like a test subject.

Deaton followed, Derek watched as he kneeled down towards the threshold and sprinkled the ash over it, jaw dropping a little when it formed a perfectly straight line instantly. They all startled when Stiles shifted and swiped a claw, Derek's eyes widened when he hits something like an invisible wall and stumbles backwards from the force of resistance. He sees Scott roll his eyes when Stiles growls and tries to ram through, Derek could see the barrier shine blue when it was hit this time, but is thrown back once again. Scott takes a try, more calmly, and barely grazes his fingertips till he jolts back, clutching his hand to his chest like it hurt him somehow.

It really was a barrier. It was like magic. Actually it is magic.

"Oh wow," Derek mumbles, stepping towards it, completely ignoring Stiles' multiple failed attempts at ramming through.

With one hand, Derek reaches out, testing it, and in fascination watches his hand go through like normal, like there wasn't an invisible barrier keeping the two werewolves from passing through. Stiles sees this and moves toward him, reaching for Derek's hand and growled dangerously when Derek pulled it back, flinching against the resistance of the barrier. Derek doesn't do it again, mostly cause he can see how frustrated Stiles seemed to be that he couldn't break through. It amazed him that such fine powder could be strong enough to hold back a raging werewolf who was probably using all his supernatural strength against it.

"What do you think Derek?" Deaton says behind him.

"It's amazing," he said honestly, wonderously, shockingly, and curiously.

Stiles growls. Apparently wrong answer for him. It was obvious Stiles didn't like being trapped.

Deaton chuckles. "Some might not agree with you." The older man bends down again, this time swiping both hands above the black ash, and it separates. The boys step back in the room. Stiles, although scowling, seemed more relieved than Scott to be out, and slumps in a chair. "As I've told you before the mountain ash acts like a barrier that confines supernatural creatures, but once the line is broken it's nothing but powder until the line is restored."

"So if the line isn't fully, connected, then it'll be useless?" Derek asked, trying to understand.

"That's right?" Deaton nods. He motions his hands, and like magic the ash returns to the bottle. Then he holds the jar out to Derek, an offer. "Do you want to try?"

"I don't know," Derek says, a little uncertain. From his past experiences he and mountain ash haven't always been on the same page. Especially what almost transpired in the locker room earlier. "What if I lose control again?"

"Then you keep practicing," Deaton says, like it was that simple. It probably was. "Derek your spark is surprisingly strong for someone your age. When it reacts to your emotions, like for instance, your anger, then it's gonna become unstable, thus so will your control."

"Okay." Derek nods.

"Here," Deaton hands him the jar. Derek, apprehensive, takes it. "You just need to relax, and focus all of that negative energy into a positive. You have to believe, have absolutely no doubts, or else it won't work."

Believe. Derek could do that. All he had to do was focus and believe. He opens the jar and closes his eyes.

"There you go," Deaton says when Derek lets himself relax. "Now I want you to think about your reason for coming here. Think about why you want to learn to control mountain ash."

Derek automatically thinks of his sisters. He nods.

"Okay," he hears Deaton say. "Focus on that reason, let it anchor you. Use that reason as a focal point, and just believe."

In his mind Derek sees his sisters. Laura's playful nature, her strong heart, sad smile, vibrant laugh, and endless beauty. Then he thinks of Cora and her teenage angst, her ongoing stubborness, her toughness, and her rare smiles that always seem to light up her face.

Then he think of the memories he's had with them. All the laughter, going to the movies, learning to drive, fighting in the living room, and the crying when Cora was too rough with him. All these years Derek has never realized how important those moments with his sisters were, even if they weren't all great. Now he never wants to go a day without his sisters in his life, never wants those moments to end.

 _I need to protect them._ He repeats in his mind, like a mantra. Somewhere deep deep deep inside his body, he could feel something. He felt, energized for some reason. Like he was being charged up by something. _I have to protect them._ Because if he couldn't then-

"You can't have doubts Derek." Deaton says aloud, making him jump.

Derek clenches his eyes. Whatever he did must have shown it. He relaxes again. No doubts, he knows this. He can do this.

 _I'm gonna protect my sister._ He was gonna protect them. Every smile, every frown, every tear, every laugh. Every precious memory from today going on into the future. He wasn't gonna let anyone take that away from him, not the consequences of his mother's actions, and definitely not his father _. I will protect my sisters!_

"Derek," Deaton says calmly. "Open your eyes."

He does so. The first thing his eyes land on is the small jar in his hand, completely empty. The next thing he sees is a large black perfect circle on the floor, and he was standing in the middle of it. Derek huffs, looks up at the others with a big, dimpled smile. "I did it!"

Scott exclaims happily while Stiles grins. Deaton nods his head. "Congratulations. Let's test it. Stiles?"

His boyfriend grumbles, but follows through. To Derek's delight, the moment Stiles tries to walk pass it he walks straight into an invisible barrier like before.

"It works!" Derek exclaims in relief. He drops his smile when Stiles growls. "Sorry, just let me see if I can-" he bends down, relaxes with a deep breath. He's pretty sure it's the same thing to break the circle like it is to apply it. Just believe, absolutely no doubts.

Derek mimics Deaton's actions from earlier, swipes his hand over the line, and watches the line separate.

"Good job Derek," Deaton praises. "You've figured it out."

"Thanks," Derek says, grabbing Stiles' outstretched hand, letting himself be lifted up. "For everything."

"You're welcome," Deaton nods. "Just remember to keep practicing, and soon you'll be a master of mountain ash too."

Derek grins. Of course it wasn't gonna be that easy, but as long as he believed in himself maybe his spark could be a bigger asset to him to protect his loved one. _Yes_. He thinks as he glances at Stiles. He'll protect all his loved ones.

-

Three weeks later Derek is sitting at the kitchen table of the Stilinski home. After his mountain ash lesson, Deaton had given him a bestiary, a book of information containing the supernatural. Which proved to be useless to him since it wasn't even in english, but Stiles gave him a copy of an english translation, which was only useful on a computer. Which he didn't have until yesterday afternoon.

Laura surprised him when she came home with three brand new laptops for the three of them. His day only got better when she presented him with a brand new drawing tablet. He almost cried. He was so happy to start drawing on his computer again. It always managed to ease his stress, forgetting about everything and escaping into a world all his own. He remembered a time, before the fire took away his old laptop with his most important drawings on it, where he would draw in the late of night to the early hours of the morning. Then get reprimanded by his mom because of it, but he didn't care. To him every drawing he finished felt like the biggest accomplishment of his life.

Thanks to Stiles constant begging the Sheriff allowed Derek to spend the weekend, of course not without adult supervision. So after school on Friday of that third week, Derek spends the afternoon in the kitchen of the Stilinski home drawing on his laptop. It was a nice break from practicing with mountain ash. The fact that Derek doesn't hear the front door open means he was so entranced by his work. By the highlight of the hair, the sharpness of the eyes, the tension in the posture, the tightness of the jaw.

It's been a while since he's drawn his mom. The beauty of drawing is that he can draw anything he wants in any way he wants, just like an author bringing a story to life. Back then he would draw his mom with softer features, a kind smile and a more relaxed posture. Almost carefree, like Melissa and the picture he's seen of Stiles' mom, but this was the first time he's ever drawn his mom in her, natural state.

"You've got some talent kid." Derek jumps. When he turns around John is looking over his shoulder at his drawing, then gives Derek an apologetic smile. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay," Derek says and turns back to the screen.

"That your mom?" John asks, grabbing a sandwich Stiles left for him, and a water bottle.

"Yeah." Derek nods.

"I can see where you get your looks from," John winks, reminding Derek of Stiles when he does so. John sits down beside him and takes a bite from his sandwich, then asks. "Where's Stiles?"

"Lacrosse."

"I thought he said there wasn't anymore games."

"There isn't, but Finstock changed his mind. Said it was punishment for losing their last one."

John rolls his eyes. "I don't know how that man even became a teacher more or less a coach."

Derek chuckles. He's pretty sure everyone in this town has asked that question.

They stay silent after that. Derek goes back to his drawing and John continues to eat his food. It's a comfortable silence, but after a while Derek can see in his peripheral vision John squinting at the screen. The sight reminded him of one of his old teachers at his last school who had trouble reading a computer screen even with his glasses on.

"It's amazing what you kids can do with technology nowadays." John says. "You made it so realistic I can't tell if I'm looking at a drawing or an actual picture."

"Thanks." Derek smiles.

"You got everything you need for the weekend?" John asks.

"Yes." Derek nods, then to be polite, says. "Thank you for letting me stay."

"I knew it was only a matter of time before Stiles broke down and asked. Don't forget I was a teenager once too. I was the exact same way." John says.

"I guess he got lucky with that." Derek snorts.

John snorts too. "He's lucky I'm even letting you two sleep in the same room," then adds when Derek raises his eyebrows. _"With the door open."_

Derek's eyebrows shoot even higher up his forehead. He wonders how much begging Stiles had to do to get John to say yes to that. Either way he's grateful.

"Thank you." Derek says for the third time that day.

John nods. "To be honest, I wasn't really surprised when he asked if you could sleep in his room."

Derek blinks. "What do you mean?"

"Well," John rubs the back of his neck. "Ever since you two started dating Stiles has had this..urge to be near you all the time. Now I'm not sure if it's just him or if it's his wolf side. I mean I don't know if being a werewolf now has Stiles seeing relationships different, but sometimes he'll snatch a pillow or a blanket you would use and take it up to his room. Might be something with scents I guess."

"Oh." Derek says. That may explain all the touching and the scenting. Not that Derek's ever minded any of it, he just doesn't understand what scenting means to werewolves and he's never asked. He just knows doing it makes Stiles happy. It was a part of him, the wolf side of him. With this new information his heart swells at the thought of Stiles wanting him that badly.

"Anyways how have you been?" John asks him. "We haven't been able to talk after you got kidnapped. I hope this hasn't all been too much for you to take in. I can understand if you're overwhelmed."

"No, I-" Derek bites his lip. He thinks back to that night and all those weeks leading up to now. "It's not that I'm overwhelmed by it all-I mean it is overwhelming, but I think it's just the fear of not knowing when my father will show up." His eyes gaze at his drawing. "This must have been how my mom felt all those years when she was hiding us from my dad."

Now that Derek was finally looking, he understood the stress his mother had been going through. For twelves years that woman hid them from a madman all by herself while trying to raise three stubborn children and have the stress on her shoulders of never knowing when her husband would show up and probably kill them all. All those times his mom would stare out the windows, her uptight attitude. It wasn't because she was a cold hearted mother, with a strict tone-but because she was worried, scared, feared for their lives.

That stress of having to go through twelve years of looking over her shoulders, Derek can never understand that. Not when he has friends, a pack that is willing to protect each other. His mother was on her own all that time. Just looking at his drawing, really looking at it, now he can see that fear and worry in her eyes and in her posture. All that inner bitterness he had towards her for putting him and his sisters through all this, dissipated. His mother was a strong woman. Even if she didn't handle the situation the way she should, as a mother she did what she had to do. Derek understands that now.

Derek feels John place a hand on his back. He looks at him, blinking. It's when his vision starts to blur does he realize he's crying. "Sorry." Derek sniffles, wiping his eyes.

"Don't be sorry kid," John consoles, and starts rubbing his back. "It's okay to cry."

Derek smiles, but the tears keep coming. No matter how many times he wipes his eyes they don't stop. He just keeps making a mess of his face. John pulls him in hug, and Derek snuggles in his shoulder.

John continued to hold him, rubbing soothing circles on his back, and just being patient until Derek finally stopped crying.

"There you go," John says, pulling away. "You're fine now."

"Sorry." Derek says again when he sees the wet mess he left on the tan uniform. John didn't seem to mind and waves it off as he offers a napkin. "It's fine."

Derek wipes his face, still sniffling. Suddenly he feels more lighter than he's ever felt. "Thank you. You're a good dad. Stiles is lucky to have you."

"Well you have me too." John says. "I'm here if you want to talk or need anything. Melissa too."

"Okay." Derek nods. Then gives him a big bear hug.

John tells Derek to go on and take an early shower while he starts on dinner. Derek grabs his laptop and phone and puts them to charge in Stiles room, then grabs some clothes from his bag and heads to shower. After he showers he only realizes he brought a wrong shirt from home when he puts on a burgundy thumbholed sweater that was way too big for him, the shirt was falling off his shoulders. It was annoying, but decides to bare with it, feeling too lazy to find another shirt to change in, and goes downstairs.

The kitchen smelled heavenly. John made lasagna and salad and soft breadsticks. Derek helps by setting the table. By the time he and John serve the food Stiles walks in looking sweaty, tired, and a little annoyed. His expression softens when he sees Derek and greets him with a kiss to his head.

"Bad day son?" John asks when Stiles slumps in the chair next to Derek.

"More like I'm this close to clawing out Finstock's face off, and Jackson's." He gestures with his fingers while his other hand seeks out Derek's.

"Temper temper." John says. "Maybe you should go take a hot shower. You might feel better."

"I feel tons better right now." Stiles says looking at Derek, rubbing circles with his thumb of Derek's knuckles.

Derek's face goes warm and avoids eye contact, instead keeps his focus on their linked hands. John chuckles.

They eat and talk. John and Stiles mostly delve into conversation, but Derek was happy to sit quietly and listen as Stiles goes on about lacrosse and how Finstock was subtlety blaming Stiles, Jackson, and Scott for their loss. However Stiles just complains about Finstock's idiotic tendencies to punish them and Jackson's attitude-which Derek was pretty sure had less to do with Finstock and more with his relationship drama with Lydia and that one twin; Aiden.

"Why don't you just quit?" John says.

Stiles looks at his father like he just said the worst thing in the world. "What? I can't quit lacrosse."

"Well if you're gonna keep complaining about it maybe you should quit." John says. "You didn't care about lacrosse until Scott decided to join the team. Then you and the others became werewolves, which gives you guys and unfair advantage. Plus with that temper of yours and your new abilities, someone is bound to get hurt."

Stiles looks shocked. "Dad are you afraid I'm gonna lose control and hurt someone?"

"Quite possibly you could," John shrugs. "I mean lacrosse is an intense physical sport, and you get agitated real easily."

"I don't get agitated and I don't have a temper." Stiles objects.

John raises an eyebrow. "Do I need to remind you about the vending machine?"

Derek looks at Stiles, whose cheeks turn red. "No let's not go there." He mutters, looking a little embarrassed.

"What I'm trying to say is," John says seriously. "Is that you're not a normal human anymore. You're a werewolf with inhuman strength and abilities. If you keep letting these little things get to you, you could lose control and end up hurting someone, badly. If you wanna keep playing lacrosse then you're better start putting your big boy pants and and suck it up."

Derek looks at Stiles again, who's pushing around his food with his fork looking upset. "I know that," he says quietly. "It's just, annoying to hear it, and it's a little hurtful."

"They're just words Stiles," John points out. "They're only annoying and hurtful if you let them be."

Stiles sighs, frustratingly, but keeps quiet and shoves a forkful of lasagna in his mouth. John rolls his eyes and turns to Derek. "So, I don't think you've ever told us which part of New York you lived in." He says. "Did you actually live in New York City?"

"No, we lived in Niagara Falls," Derek says. He hesitates, then says. "Actually that week before the fire Laura was talking to my mom about us moving to New York City because she wanted to transfer to Columbia Univeristy."

"Really." John says looking impressed.

Derek smiles sheepishly. "To be honest she only wanted to go there because her boyfriend at the time was gonna go there."

 _"Oh."_ John says understanding, and Derek laughs. "You know I'd like to meet them one day, your sisters. We should all have dinner together."

"His sisters are scary, especially the little one." Stiles mutters, but John hears and turns strict eyes to his son. Stiles raises his hands. "What she is, she's like a dynamite waiting to pop."

Derek laughs again, but turns to John and says. "That would be nice, but I don't think it'll happen anytime soon. Laura works and goes to school and comes home exhausted." John deflates a little, and Derek feeling guilty, assures him. "But I'll tell her though. I'm sure she'll want to."

John smiles, pleased by the reassurance. Then stands up and says, "Good. You boys mind handling the dishes."

Him and Stiles nod and grab the dishes from the table as John goes upstairs.

They carefully dump the dishes in the sink and Derek turns on the hot water. For some reason Stiles is feeling a little playful and starts playing with the dish soap, making bubbles and blowing them at Derek. It was all in good fun, until he accidentally blows soap in Derek's eye.

"Go to my room, I'll be out in a minute." Stiles says to him before he goes to take a shower.

Derek waits for him, sitting on Stiles' bed finishing some smaller details of his drawing. Then, after hours of creating this masterpiece, it was finally done. He slumps back against the headboard, sighing in relief.

"What's wrong?"

Derek jumps, startled by Stiles suddenly standing in the middle of the room drying his hair with a large blue towel.

"Oh my god, you really need to stop sneaking up on me." Derek says putting a hand to his chest. "You're gonna end up giving me a heart attack one of these days."

"I didn't sneak up on you, you just weren't paying attention." Stiles points out, throwing the towel on his desk chair before climbing into bed next to Derek. His eyes widened when he sees the drawing. "Holy shit. You drew this?"

"Yeah," Derek nods. "Stiles meet my mother; Talia Hale."

"Derek this is beautiful. I knew you were a good drawer but you just took it to a whole new level." Stiles says awed. He looks at Derek and touches his chin with a thumb. "You're amazing you know that?"

"Not that amazing," Derek ducks his head, blushing. "You'd be surprised how many people can draw like this, they just don't go around flaunting it, you could probably find them on Tumblr though. Actually there are some people I follow who can draw more realistic than I can."

"How can it be more realistic than this?"

"Trust me it is." Derek chuckles, closing his laptop and pushing it away.

"So what happened today?" Stiles asks.

"Hm?" Derek frowns at him.

"When I came home it smelt like you've been crying," Stiles says. "What happened?"

"Oh," Derek mumbles. "That was-" he hesitates. "The drawing made me think of my mom."

"And?" Stiles asks, waiting for him to continue.

Derek sighs. "All this time I was putting her in this bad light because I was blaming her for everything. For lying to us, for leaving us in this bad situation. But she did everything for us, and I was just too blind to see it."

"That's a normal reaction," Stiles says. "Everyone feels like that with their parents once in a while."

Derek nods. "I know, it's just difficult to come to terms with that." He smiles sadly. "The only good thing that came out of this, was coming to Beacon Hills and meeting you and your dad and all our friends."

"I just wish it happened some other way and not at the expense of a horrible tragedy." Stiles mumbles quietly.

Seeing him sad, Derek cups Stiles' chin and makes him look at him, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. Stiles deepened it a little, drawing it out until he pulls away catching Derek's bottom lip with his teeth.

Stiles grins. "What?" Derek asks.

"My dad's asleep," Stiles says, eyebrows wagging. "I'm gonna close the door."

"No." Derek says sternly.

Stiles gapes. "What? Why not?"

"Your dad said keep the door open, so we're keeping it open."

 _"Derek."_ Stiles whines.

"No." He says again. "We are not breaking your dad's rules. We're lucky we get to do this at all."

Stiles groans. "Fine."

"Just-here." Derek tilts his chin up, offering his neck.

Stiles looks at it, then back to Derek. His eyes glow gold and he presses his nose in Derek's neck, scenting him. Derek smiles when he hears a pleased growl.

They stay like that for a bit. Derek just feels relaxed and safe under Stiles' weight. Stiles just seemed content taking in Derek's scent. The conversation he had with John earlier pops into his head and he smiles again. It wasn't just Stiles who feels happy in these moments.

Then Stiles' phone vibrates. They both ignore it, but it vibrates again and Stiles growls before getting up, grumbling. Derek watches him, then frowns when he sees Stiles still. "Stiles?" He says worriedly. "What is it?"

Stiles doesn't answer, but he replies back quickly. Derek tries to see, thinking something bad happened, but only manages to read Stiles' reply; _Are you fucking serious?_ Before Stiles pulls it away, smiling at Derek innocently.

"What's wrong?" Derek asks again.

"Nothing," Stiles waves it off. "Just Scott being a dumbass."

Derek was gonna ask again but Stiles kisses him and his question was lost. "Let's go to sleep."

Derek nods and lays down, sighing when Stiles spoons him from behind he instantly relaxes. Another day catches up to him, he was so tired. Tomorrow was gonna be another day, and he couldn't wait to spend it with Stiles again.

Only thing was if he wasn't so tired he would have noticed Stiles nervousness. And if he would have seen the first two messages Scott had sent, he would have understood the reason why Stiles lied to him.

_Scott: Kira just told me urgent news and it's not good!!!_

_Scott: Malia's coming back!!!!!!!_


End file.
